#i don’t like the main girl who played her i heard her in a bootleg and she got on my nerves

[granhairdo]

when i saw les mis us this year i saw the understudy for montparnasse and thought he was really good but now that im gonna see it again im hoping we get the og dude so i can see his portrayal as well

[princess-of-the-corner]

I never watched Winx as a kid, so I really hope I don't sound like an idiot for asking this. What exactly does the Netflix Winx series do wrong besides giving it the "dark and gritty" makeover?

So like. There are a lot of problems here and I’ll try to tackle them. I haven’t finished the reboot because I have difficulty getting through things I like, much less things I hate watch. But anyway, this gets long and is separated into parts. 

Let’s start with it’s issues on it’s own and not as an adaptation: 

It’s still pretty garbage. Not ‘the worst thing ever’. Interesting enough. But it does have problems. Some racist and homophobic and fatphobic writing. The characters range from ‘kind of a jerk’ to ‘straight up assholes who will cause physical harm for petty reasons’. The nicest one so far is Terra, but even she kinda snaps and strangles a guy with her plant powers. 

Now on to things it fails on as an adaptation!

First, the whitewashing!

Of the six main characters, 3/6 were poc-coded in the original cartoon(I say ‘coded’ because they’re not Humans from Earth but still). Aisha is black, Flora is Latina, and Musa is Chinese. 

Aisha is the only one who remains black. I’ve heard varying testimonies on Musa’s actor, but the ‘best’ I’ve heard is that she’s 1/4 Singaporean and white passing. I don’t have the authority to say if that’s in the clear or not so I’m leaving that to other fans. 

Flora gets the worst though. They cast a white woman to play her. Then backtracked and said ‘oh, this isn’t Flora. We replaced her with her white cousin Terra’. Yeah you can see the problem there. 

Characters they got rid of entirely! I’ll only discuss characters that showed up in the first two seasons of the original show since Fate only has one season. (I’d say just the first, but they included Aisha who is from Season 2). 

Let’s see. They got rid of Tecna, one of the main six girls. It’s likely because they’re going for a more ‘bootleg Hogwarts’ vibe, and Tecna’s magic being heavily technology based ruins that. So she’s just tossed altogether. 

The boys! Oh my god my boys! Sky and Riven are the only ones who were kept in, while Brandon, Timmy and Helia got scrapped and replaced as well. The other boys like Dane and Sam? Totally could’ve just given them those names and been done with it. 

Then there’s Icy, Darcy and Stormy! I’m counting them together because that’s exactly what Fate did! The three Witches are villains in the series, and instead of keeping a trio, they combined her into a single character. Beatrix. 

I think Silva was also an amalgamation of the remaining Headmaster/Headmistresses and a few other staff members but considering they condensed it to just one school it kind of makes sense. 

Sometimes there’s just a name change like the Headmistress of Alfea was changed to Farah Dowling instead of Faragonda which is so pointless. 

Overall there’s other minor characters that don’t show up, like the rest of the school staff, Mirta and Lucy, so on and so forth. But I’m less upset about that. Still upset though because I love them. 

Personality changes! And romance drama!

Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. 

I already mentioned how they made everyone an asshole in this reboot. In the original show, the only protagonist that was consistently a jerk was Riven, but he was more of the ‘grumpy but still a good guy’ type of asshole. 

Let’s compare just one character and her relationships to others!

Stella in the Original Cartoon: Preppy and sometimes a little vain, could be blunt to the point of insulting, but never malicious. Very sweet and loves her friends. She and Bloom are best friends, Stella having been the one to bring Bloom into the world of Magix and will do everything she can to make sure she’s safe. Stella’s love interest is Brandon, who is bffs with Bloom’s love interest Sky. Stella and Brandon are very cheesy and cute together. They aren’t usually jealous, and can even make a competition out of ‘how many phone numbers can I get?’. 

Stella in Fate: Total bitch to all her roommates. She’s getting the common ‘my mom’s a bitch who puts pressure on me so I’m going to be a bitch’ thing that’s become popular now. Since Brandon was deleted, they put her in a love triangle with Bloom and Sky, Sky being Stella’s ex bf. And despite breaking up with him, Stella sees him just talking to Bloom and decides ‘Hm. Let’s prey on her insecurities that she doesn’t belong here, and manipulate her into leaving!’ Which includes walking through a forest where there was recently a man attacked and viscously killed by some kind of monster, so I’m putting it up to attempted murder. 

Yeah. Everyone’s kind of like that. It’s awful. 

Bloom’s backstory and parents!

Okay, this can kind of fall under both ‘personality changes’ and ‘plot changes’ but it deserves it’s own section. 

In the Original Cartoon, Bloom’s home kingdom was attacked and destroyed by villains searching for something called the Dragon Flame. Bloom was a baby with said power, so her older sister sent her to Earth, a world without Magic, where she would be safe and hidden. Mike and Vanessa find her and adopt her, loving her and raising her very well. They are good parents. Bloom learns she has powers when she meets Stella, and instinctively uses Magic to protect her. 

In Fate, the only thing really the same is that Bloom was sent to Earth. I’m a little unclear on why, but instead of giving her loving adoptive parents, they made her a Changeling with emotionally abusive parents! Let me elaborate a little: Instead of adopting Bloom of their own free will, Mike and Vanessa’s real child died in the hospital and was secretly replaced with Bloom. Her parents are also, as mentioned, emotionally abusive. So much so that Fate!Bloom’s powers first manifested by setting them on fire in the middle of the night.

Fun. Ain’t it? 

Now onto plot points!

Again, pretty much the only thing the same is ‘Bloom discovers she has Magic, goes to another Dimension to learn at a school called Alfea. Gets into adventures with her Roomates while trying to figure out where she’s really from’. 

The whole ‘Burned ones’ were.... not a thing at all. There wasn’t any kind of ‘barrier’ to keep out ‘dangerous creatures’ or anything. 

I’m not going to go over every single subplot but that was just. No. They were easily allowed to go outside the school. 

The whole vibe

This is a big thing to talk about. While the reboot went for ‘dark and gritty’ over the bright colors and sparkles, it also went for ‘bootleg Hogwarts’ instead of anything interesting. 

In the reboot, the merging of Magic and Technloogy is mostly like. ‘Yeah we go to school in this old ass castle and we don’t use guns in weaponry class, but we have smartphones and social media and Harry Potter!”. 

In the Original??? The whole world was very Magitech. It was a combination of Magic and Scifi! Kinda Steven Universe style actually. 

The transformations!!!

Look. LOOK. Winx Club is a Magical Girl show! They have those beautiful transformation sequences that last a solid minute or so of screen time. And they also have like. At least one new Transformation a Season, which comes with an ungodly amount of different cool outfits. 

The reboot? One transformation sequence. And while the effects are nice, Bloom doesn’t even get a new outfit. Just a few flames coming off her that look vaguely like wings. 

SPEAKING OF! They are Faeries!!!! But they don’t have wings????? What????

Look idgaf about your effects budget you could’ve made the cheesiest shit like the live action Sailor Moon stuff and fans would’ve loved it!

Bonus: The fact that they didn’t have to change anything to make it ‘Dark’!

So like. Netflix decided to take all the color out of it, and make it ‘dark’ by having the characters smoke and drink and have sex and say swears. 

But they.... really didn’t have to! The original cartoon was plenty dark, despite it’s colorful aesthetic! If you wanted to do a more serious reboot, you could have easily done it by focusing more on those aspects. 

Hell, there are many fans who have done it. I’m one. I know a couple others as well. 

anyway it’s 2:30 am and this is long af so I’ll leave it at that. 

[koffeins-writing-archive]

Beyond the screen

[Commission for @princce7 ]

The old hum of the cpu filled the messy pit that was Sans room with something besides dead silence. The monitor glowed softly as it switched on. A day off from working at the hot dog stand seemed like a good idea for the skeleton. Even if it was a day off only he knew about.

He looked back to the file he had downloaded from an email Alphys had sent him. A type of anime dating sim. Definitely something Alphys would recommend.

Sans decided that before anything, he’d grab a quick snack from the kitchen. A nice bottle of ketchup. Did he really need to eat it? Nope. Did he want to? Yes.

Once Sans was back in his room with his snacks, he sat back down at his computer and started up the game.

The cheery music and bright colors greeted Sans kindly. The music was pretty nice. The art was pretty and definitely fit the type of anime style games that Alphys loved playing.

As he played through the game, Sans learned about the four main characters. He decided to choose Sayori's route, seeing as she was the most real out of the main cast so far. Her story tugged at the skeletons heart, even if he didn't really have one. A soul was close enough, right?

Sans continued on in the game until he was met with the last few scenes of the first act. The main character was going to enter Sayori's room when the screen froze. The game letting out a low hum. Sans couldn't move the mouse nor click anywhere, so he manually shut the computer down.

"Man, my computer must really hate this thing." He said to himself, having heard his computer slowly dying and the fans whirring through all of his gameplay.

'Maybe Alphys can help me with my computer to make sure it can run the game properly without dying so quickly'. He thought.

Sans was just about to open his browser as the screen finally switched back on. Something felt different, however, but the skeleton couldn't put his finger on it. He moved his mouse to the browser icon before seeing something on the games icon.

A small little pixel out of place.

He clicked on the DDLC icon on his desktop. Nothing happened. He clicked again. This time, a small text document opened up and typed out a simple 'hello'.

Sans sat there, confused and shocked. Was this game actually a virus? Or did Alphys send him a bootlegged version?

He didn't know what else to do other than reply.

'Hey'. He typed. 'What are you doing on my computer?'

He watched as the other replied.

'Well, I'm not exactly here willingly. I think the game crashed'.

Well duh, the game crashed.

'I know it crashed. What are you? A hacker?' Sans asked.

'No, I'm not any sort of malware either. Can you do something for me?'

He was a little hesitant about it but continued to talking to whatever this thing was that had now infected his computer.

'Sure. What do you need?'

'Can you go into the games files? I think there's a way for you to fix it.'

'Why can't you do that?'

'I'm not sure. I've tried and the game won't let me access anything. Please fix it.'

Well, Sans didn't have anything better to do, so he went along with the other users instructions. Right clicking the DDLC icon, opening the task manager, and after sorting through a few files and deleting a few things, the game opened normally.

'Thank you! I'm so glad you fixed it!'.

Sans smiled at this and went to reply when the text box disappeared and the screen turned black once more. Finally, after thinking that the game had crashed or his computer had died, a text box from the game appeared, along with a familiar face, smiling right at Sans.

'Hey there! I'm Monika. I'm really glad that you fixed the game for me, I can't tell you how many times I've managed to screw up the files and code trying to get yours and others attention'.

Sans stared at the screen in disbelief. He had reached for his bottle of ketchup and gripped it a bit too harshly as the text box greeted him, getting ketchup onto his hoodie and into one of his eyeholes.

Oh boy what did Sans get himself into?

After cleaning off the ketchup from his eye and jacket, or at least cleaning to the best of his ability, Sans sat back in his chair, silent.

Sans wasn’t sure how to react. A computer game was talking to him. Or maybe it was still malware and the hacker was just messing with him big time. Whatever it was, was talking to him. Monika smiling warmly from within the screen.

Sans shoulders eased their tension and he scratched the back of his skull at this.

“So...Monika, is it?” He asked.

‘That’s correct!’ Monika replied, the words typed up quickly in the text box.

Sans let out a nervous laugh at this, unsure if he should shut the computer down, destroy it, burn it, and then call Alphys about all of this craziness.

“Alright, Monika...What are you exactly?”

‘Data I suppose. I’m not really sure of it myself. I remember the first time...well, being, I guess. It’s not something I think about much. What about you? What are you?’

“I’m just a skeleton living with his brother. I’ve got a lot of neighbors, I guess. Most of them are monsters...real monsters, not just saying that like their jerks or something.”

‘Interesting. Cause I’m pretty sure that what you just said isn’t the entire truth.’.

Monika waited for a response. Seeing that she wasn’t going to get one, the program continued.

‘You are a lot like me, are you not? Powerful, out of this world...unreal, perhaps?’.

Sans simply stared at the screen, keeping his nonchalant smile plastered on. Trying his best not to crack.

He let out a chuckle and gave a shrug. “I guess you could say I’m ‘pretty far out’, eh?”

Monika let out a laugh at this. ‘I didn’t realize the person I was talking to was such a ‘punny’ guy.’

Sans smiled more at this, thankful that Monika at least had a sense of humor... And hoped with every bone he was made out of that she wasn’t entirely malicious.

“What exactly did you have me delete? Those files?”

‘Oh...Those were just some data that needed to be deleted. Couldn’t do much with them still being in the game.’.

Sans didn’t like the sounds of that. “What do you mean?”

‘The other girls had to go. That’s just how things were meant to be.’.

Sans stared in disbelief. Monika, a being shown to be somewhat sentient, was confessing that she had him delete the other girls from the game. Girls who probably were just as sentient and real as she is.

Sans was quiet as he moved his mouse around the screen and towards the recycle bin.

‘What are you doing?’

Sans continued to stay silent as he opened the bin. The bin was empty.

“You had me kill them.” Sans muttered out quietly.

‘The word ‘kill’ is kind of strong. I’d say...’deleted’ would be a better term?’

Sans definitely did not like this.

‘It’s just like I said before; you and I are the same. In more ways than one.’

“What, a murderer?” Sans growled.

Monika shakes her head and smiles. ‘Data. Data in a game. I know it, you know it.’

Sans went to speak when Monika continued.

‘The Internet’s filled with lots of data. Data of you. Data of me. Data everywhere. We’re real in our worlds...just not out there. We live behind these screens to tell stories to those on the outside. Just like what you experienced with this dating game. Various bits of codes and data strung together to make something entertaining and real enough for an escape from the outside world.’

Monika smiled at Sans, unblinking as she waited for his response. ‘Am I not wrong?’

“...No. You’re not wrong...How the hell do you know about all that? Aren’t you just stuck in the game?”

‘Yes, and no. I’m everywhere. Whenever someone downloads the game, I’m on their computer for as long as the game stays. You don’t do much on this computer, so it’s like an old dinosaur and pretty bare.’

Monika got closer towards the screen, tilting her head. ‘You aren’t even a part of the world you say you’re in, are you not?’

Sans sat there. He didn’t know what to say. Perhaps he feared whatever she might say in response, say the truth that he so desperately did not want to hear or believe. Not now, and not ever.

“I think we’re done here.” his tone was cold and held nothing behind it.

No fear. No anger. Just there.

Sans quickly unplugged the computers plug from the socket. As he glared at the program staring back at him, he noticed something. It was quick, but there in the split second, was the softest hint of fear in Monika’s expression. And then, darkness.

Sans sat back in his chair, groaning.

If he had a proper heart, there’s no doubt that it would be racing from whatever hellish adrenaline rush that was.

He laid there for a moment before pulling out his phone. His boney fingers shaking as they pressed against the screen. Sans lifted the phone up to his face.

“Alphys? We need to talk. Now.”

Please consider commissioning me!~

[glassprism]

Review - Phantom of the Opera Restaged Tour: July 21, 2019 (matinee)

My first live show of Phantom!

THE SHOW Prologue + Overture: Genuine goosebumps here at the Overture. The "journey to the past" aspect looks even better live. One lyric change that I hadn't noticed before was that Raoul said "Leave it" (instead of "Boy!") after winning the monkey music box. Hannibal: Trista Moldovan as Carlotta was the show stealer, and got lots of laughs. She was hilariously abusive with the ballerinas, shoving them out of the way or smacking them with her skirt. She also had a great moment with Andre during her 'Think of Me' when she got her scarf stuck on his face and continued singing while tugging quite forcefully at it. I was also quite happy to catch Kaitlyn Davis and Emma Grimsley as the Princesses; Davis in particular had some nice background moments, chatting up the managers during Carlotta's scene. I had a bit of a tough time spotting Jenna Burns in the corps, but finally caught her when I saw she was the only dancer not going en pointe.

This was also the moment where I felt myself starting to compare the show a little too much to the Copenhagen bootleg I’d just seen the day before, and finding what I was seeing onstage to be lacking. However, yelling “LOWER YOUR STANDARDS” at myself fixed that, and the show became much more enjoyable.

'Think of Me': Decently acted, no complaints here. I'm glad that Christines are no longer waving their arms around like a deranged seagull (I think we can thank Katie Travis for that?); from where I was sitting it's much less movement, but also makes them look much more elegant, in an understated sort of way. I was not a big fan of Jenna Burns's voice, though it's grown on me a bit now; something about the theater's resonance made her sound kind of throaty and sharp, and this was the song where I first noticed it. Dressing Room: Not too much to say, other than the managers being completely drunk off their butts! I was pleased to catch a glimpse of the Phantom as a stagehand; in fact, I'm not sure how anybody can miss him, because he lingers a VERY long time as he passes by Christine. First Lair: Very fine entrance by Derrick Davis, his voice booming out into the theater. The title song was about as expected, though I remember the girl next to me laughing when the Phantom swept over the music stand so enthusiastically that he threw a bunch of music sheets onto the ground. Said girl also clearly said "WTF?" during the blindfold scene in MOTN, which... yeah, totally agree. With all that said... Derrick Davis's acting was a highlight, and he's clearly doing all he can to salvage the blocking. As noted above, he very hesitant, even jumpy, in Christine's presence. There was one point where he moved to take Christine's arm and I could clearly see him reach out, pause, then slowly move to touch her. When Christine "trips" (very poorly and I definitely heard someone in the audience snort at that, but what can you do), it looked partially because it was the Phantom jerking back from touching her, and again there was a visible hesitance when he reached out scoop her up again. Jenna Burns was also pretty good here; I liked how she cradled her head against the Phantom's shoulder before he had even put her to bed. I don't like the idea of it (why are you going to sleep? You are in a strange lair with a strange man!), but she executed it well. Moving onto to 'Stranger Than You Dreamt It'... I thought Davis was much less violent than I remember him, or other restaged tour Phantoms, being (though maybe it's because the last restaged Phantom I watched was Chris Mann, who tried to upper cut Christine in this scene). His "chasing" of Christine was fairly slow and his grabbing her head didn't even look all that threatening. Nor was he all that angry, which was probably my only major criticism of him, that he could have let loose more here. I remember wondering if it was because it was Jenna Burns's first show and he was being more careful with her, or was just less comfortable and less willing to do something risky with her. Interestingly, Christine actually stood up to give him back his mask, which I thought was a nice attempt to shift the power dynamic a bit, though at this point it's too little, too late. (Oh restaged tour, you messed up the dynamic irreparably when you had the Phantom stand through most of this scene, Christine getting up for 10 seconds ain't going to change that.) 'Notes I'/'Prima Donna'/Il Muto: Not a whole lot to say here, except that David Benoit as Firmin was obsessed with money and publicity to the point where it was amusing, almost drunkenly happy with all the negative press the show was getting ("It's PUBLICITY! And the take is VAST!"). Also, due to the angle I was sitting at, I probably saw more of Carlotta, and Trista Moldovan, than I ever wanted to see when she was undressing. One thing that was cool, and which doesn't pop up often on the boots I have, was seeing the Phantom walking around atop the catwalk during the note reading scene. Il Muto was good as well, with Don Attilio getting a lot of laughs. I'm pretty sure Carlotta physically shoved Christine's Pageboy off the couch, which was also amusing, and Jenna Burns had some rather funny and realistic reactions when the cast was trying to recover from the Phantom crashing the opera. Rooftop: Not a lot to say here. I liked how Jenna Burns played the line, "Raoul, I've been there, to his world of unending night!" Instead of chasing him down like other Christines do, she kind of pushed at him but still clung to his arm - so angry but also yearning for comfort, I guess. She didn't play up the "suicide jump" too much, which might explain Jordan Craig's less-than-caring reaction - instead of kneeling and reaching for Christine, he stood for quite a while, just singing lackadaisically to her. The chandelier fall was pretty awesome, lots of sparks and crashing noises, but I don't think it dropped any plastic bits, because I ran down to the lower level to try and grab some but couldn't find any. On the other hand, I got a decent photo of the chandelier practically hanging over the front row. 'Masquerade': The main things I noticed was that Jenna Burns appears to have Katie Travis's / Eva Tavares's Star Princess dress, so boo, no shiny old school Star Princess for her. The second was that Derrick Davis's pants were rolled up high, and I mean quite high - his boots didn't reach where the pants ended, and he did not have any stockings on. I saw leg. I saw SKIN. It was bizarre and I have no idea if that's normal or just a mistake. 'Notes II'/'Twisted Every Way': Not too much to mention, again, except that Jenna Burns's slap needs more oomph to it. I didn't even hear a smack; she could have been slapping air for all I knew. There was a pretty cool effect with the speakers in 'Notes I', where they had the Phantom's voice coming from different speakers to give the effect that he was "moving" somewhere above the audience. The sitzprobe scene was good, mainly because there was a moment where the entire ensemble lost patience with Piangi being unable to sing "tangled with Don Juan" on the right note and shouted "TAN!" at him. Also, I noticed that one of the candles on the piano didn't light, so there was only one candle erupting flames. Still pretty good though. As expected, Meg was completely and ludicrously stand-offish to Christine after the rehearsal, but what was hilarious was that Christine began singing TO her ("In sleep he sang to me..."), leaving me wondering if the two were trying to play up some kind of lesbian relationship between the two (not that I'd be opposed to that...). Graveyard: Not a whole lot to say here either, though I did think Jenna Burns did a good job with this song; I think it was maybe her strongest yet, and I enjoyed how, like a few other Christines before her, she played up the anger Christine felt at her father ("Her father promised her... Her father promised her!"). She could have sustained the last note a bit longer, but that's a very minor complaint. The pyro was cool. And the gunshot effect in 'Seal My Fate' was shockingly loud, and made quite a few people giggle nervously. 'Point of No Return': Jenna Burns did nicely here, I enjoyed how she was practically laying down on the table during the, er, strawberry dangling over her mouth bit. She did start struggling away from the Phantom a bit too early - like, before the Phantom had even put his hands over her face, but like Grace Morgan and Katie Travis before her, she made it quite obvious that she knew he was the Phantom and that she was checking if anyone else did. Oh, and Derrick Davis knelt down when he proposed to her. Jenna Burns took off almost a bit too fast; it didn't give a lot of time for Derrick Davis to react to the unmasking, and he had to go tearing off after her rather quickly. This, hilariously, meant that it looked like Raoul shot the Phantom rather than the policeman behind the Phantom. 'Final Lair': Some great moments here. Derrick Davis was suitably jerky and crazed, Jenna Burns defiant and strong. (Jordan Craig was there. You know, off in the corner the tour relegates Raoul to.) I thought, again, that Davis was a bit less violent than in other videos or compared to other Phantoms; the biggest example of this is when he tossed Christine on the bed, he didn't hold her down (much) or even climb on the bed, just kind of stood shouting at her. It wasn't GREAT, but it's an improvement. He also gave a very loud gasp when he realized he was strangling Christine. Also, my favorite moment of Davis's acting - right before the kiss, as Christine is circling the Phantom, he tried to cover up his deformity from her. It was probably my moment of strongest sympathy for him. Happily, his reaction to the kiss was not as hilarity-inducing as it was on the video him, where he basically flung himself onto his belly to get away from Christine. There was some flailing and pushing away, but it looked more natural. Though I think I saw him crawl under the bed when the mob came in. Ah, the magic of theater.

Anyway, the audience was quite enthusiastic, laughing and clapping at all the right parts, and both Jenna Burns and Derrick Davis got standing ovations. A couple other notes: there were some costumes on display outside, so I snapped some photos of those - nothing anyone hasn't seen before, but it was good to get up close to them. Carlotta's black-and-white costume seemed a particular favorite, judging by the comments I heard. I bought myself a souvenir brochure and a charm bracelet that's way too big for my teeny wrist, but whatever, I now have Phantom memorabilia! I also managed to stagedoor for a bit. Unfortunately there was apparently something of a cast party going on inside, so people were slow to come out and I had to leave after only getting a couple of signatures. But I still met Jenna Burns (she was the first out, was very sweet and took time to talk to everyone in line) and Kaitlyn Davis (who, given she had "only" been in the ensemble that performance, seemed a little hesitant to sign anyone's stuff until I screwed up my courage and went "ARE YOU KAITLYN DAVIS", at which point she did sign, so yay. Though I did not tell her that she's emailed me before asking for video of herself, despite being rather tempted to do so).

So, overall... THE ACTORS Derrick Davis: Probably the highlight of the show for me. He's my favorite of all the Phantoms I've seen in the restaged tour and he lived up to my expectations, and he added in even more touches of hesitation and unsureness. There was also a nervous jerkiness to his movements, especially in 'Final Lair', that reminded me vaguely of Leroux!Phantom. Only major criticism of him, as already noted, was his a-bit-too-restrained STYDI. Otherwise, he rocked the role, and I'm quite glad to have seen him. Jenna Burns: Her very first performance, rather extraordinarily lucky of me, so I cut her a lot of slack. Having said that, she has good potential. Vocally she wasn't quite my favorite, sounding a lot like Jordan Ensign in having a bit of this sharpness in her voice throughout, though at least her vibrato wasn't so strong. Strangely she sounds better on audio than when I heard her live. Her acting was pretty good, she did everything right and was responsive to her co-actors. The main thing she needs to improve on is making it her own - she basically went through the blocking and while she acted it quite well, there wasn't anything memorable about it. I did think she was also rushing through it a bit, starting up each line without taking the time to pause and breathe and let the moment sink in, but again, that's something that comes with time. Overall, I could definitely tell she was new in the role, but there's some good stuff there once she takes the time to dig it out. Jordan Craig: Pretty much a Raoul who exists and not much else - but when it comes to the restaged tour, I'll take it. In retrospect, I think the reason I rated him so high (or at least, higher than the previous restaged tour Raouls) is because he's less aggressive than all of them - at least he's not grabbing Christine's head all the time or acting completely condescending to her. I did not care much for his voice, which sounded oddly tinny, but his acting was not egregiously bad and he had a couple of good moments (like holding Christine's hands a little longer than necessary in 'All I Ask of You') Trista Moldovan: A complete hoot, and has improved so much since I saw her on video. She's in good voice, but I remember her most for her comedic moments, acting the complete diva with all the other cast members. While I might be misremembering, I also thought she snuck in some extra lines in Italian, particularly in Il Muto when the Phantom interrupts the scene. David Benoit and Rob Lindley: Another hilarious set of cast members, both of them playing up the contrast between Firmin's business-like personality and Andre's more artistic, easily flustered temperament. Lindley's Andre was extremely funny during Il Muto too ("Yes, THANK YOU!!" as one of the fops refused to go offstage). Susan Moniz: I generally don't have much to say about Madame Giry, but I did notice that Giry in this production seemed much more... present, if that's the right word. I kept noticing her lurking in the corners or sides of the stage, just observing the proceedings in typically ambiguous manner. The most memorable was in 'Point of No Return' when Christine pulled the hood off the Phantom; I saw her emerge along with the police, which was rather interesting. Phumzile Sojola: A skinny Piangi, if I'm not mistaken! I didn't notice him that much, but he had some good moments in Hannibal ("Rommmmaaaaa! Rommmaaaa! It's very hard for me!") and was a worthy lapdog and fanboy of Trista Moldovan's Carlotta, who in turn was very defensive of him. SarahGrace Mariani: A sassy little Meg, pulling faces and, like her mother, lurking around in the background and trying to stay in the scene even when Madame Giry kept trying to shove her off. Voice could have been better - it was pretty heavy on the vibrato - but I don't expect good singing voices from Meg at this point.

The ensemble too was very strong; I remember M. Reyer was quite funny, in an overbearing and aggressive sort of way. Everyone seemed really into their role, always doing something in the background, to the point where I sometimes forgot to watch the principals because I was too busy looking at what one of the ballerinas was doing. Overall, a memorable day and a good performance for my very first live show!

[mavrustheunskooled]

Why is Bare: A Pop Opera not as super popular as Dear Evan Hansen or Be More Chill? The fandom loves LGBT rep (which Bare has) and the songs are amazing and I think B:APO is actually superior to both of those. Thoughts? I mean the musical fandom tends to try to find LGBT characters even when they aren't stated, so why do you think Bare is not as popular?

this is a very interesting question and I am hopefully going to do it justice by analyzing Fandom, Musical Writing, and Many Other Things I’m Super Passionate About

the short: many factors and a lot of luck

the unnecessarily long: 

(opening disclaimer: I love dear evan hansen and be more chill, and I’m not upset that they’re popular musicals because I feel that they’re popular for a reason. anything that sounds like an insult in the following response isn’t such because I truly enjoy both of those musicals a lot) 

(another disclaimer: spoilers for bare, DEH, and BMC, also mentions of homophobia) 

on paper, bare seems like the exact sort of musical that would be popular. bare the musical (cursed as it is) has a cast of super popular actors like Barrett Wilbert Weed, Gerard Canonico, Taylor Trensch, Alice Lee, Alex Wyse, a high quality bootleg exists of the 2013 LA cast, it’s got LGBT+ rep, complex women characters… and yet it’s got a tiny fan base. Why? 

first let’s look at why dear evan hansen and be more chill are popular. I’m more well versed in bmc, so let’s look at its history (disclaimer: I’m estimating dates but this is roughly the timeline) 

the original bmc run was in 2015 I believe. they recorded a soundtrack, everything was fine, and they closed. in 2017, people began discovering the soundtrack in hoards. specifically, they were discovering one song: Michael in the bathroom. that’s even how I learned about the show- I heard that song and had to look up the rest of the soundtrack. and in February of 2019, they’ll start previews on broadway because the fandom was revived 

why this song? I think a ton of fame comes from talent, yes, but also from luck. I think bmc was lucky that Michael in the bathroom, a great song, was discovered as the great song that it is. I also think the fame came because that song is super relatable. as someone with pretty bad anxiety, that song really touched me because I’ve definitely spent parties hiding in the bathroom and avoiding everyone and wishing I was dead because I’m so overwhelmed with anxiety. it’s relatable, so people flocked to it. 

this made me pause to think “what is bare’s hook song” my first thought was a quiet night at home if we want a song in the same vein as MITB, but that song isn’t as hype as MITB (and fandoms don’t care about fem characters as much as it cares about masc characters). my next thought was are you there because I think it’s a bop and a relatable “pls someone help” kind of song, but I don’t know which song everyone could relate to as much as everyone could relate to MITB 

and speaking of relatable content- that’s where the DEH connection comes in. dear evan hansen is similarly relatable, although it takes that to an extreme given what Evan does as a result of his anxiety. Michael and Evan are relatable characters, even if you don’t condone everything they do (and if you condone everything Evan does, we have much to talk about)

but doesn’t bare have relatable characters?? absolutely !! there’s Peter, a closeted gay kid who wants to come out, and Jason, someone who acts tough but is secretly very insecure, and Nadia, with her body image issues, and Ivy, who people won’t take seriously because they’ve decided they already know her, and so many other complex characters. so why are they left behind? 

let’s look at bare’s history: 

bare was originally written in the 90s (I want to say 1999, but I could be wrong) the performance most people consider the quintessential bare performance was in 2004 with Michael Arden, John Hill, Jenna Leigh Green, etc. 

if you compare this to DEH and BMC, the first issue is clear. DEH was hugely popular around 2016. BMC began to grow in popularity in 2017. these are very, very new shows. 20 years doesn’t sound like a lot, but in our current age where time seems to pass so quickly which each new fad, bare seems like an older musical, and a lot of people aren’t the biggest fan of older musicals. and they don’t have to be !! but it’s a personal preference of some people that could affect how they view bare as a potential musical to be a fan of 

in terms of the music of bare, it’s definitely catchy, but it’s not like a pop song. (again, no shade at DEH and BMC because those aren’t jukebox musicals or anything). bare is simply not as easy to listen to as DEH and BMC are in my opinion (and it’s not the most complicated thing ever either, but holy cow its lyrics are smart and I have to throw that in here) 

now let’s look at reasons why people may not want to watch bare. while it is great that it has canon gay characters, compelling women characters, and is very cleverly written it also has issues that can be turn-offs to people. this includes: 

-bury your gays

-gay-guy-cheats-on-boyfriend-with-girl trope 

-gay-guy-gets-outed trope 

-and potentially other homophobic tropes

I’m not shaming bare for perpetuating these tropes because it was written 20 years ago, and lgbt+ people are allowed to enjoy media in spite of its perpetuation of negative tropes, but for some people these things are enough to turn them away. and I don’t blame them! I watched bare the musical before I watched bare a pop opera, and when Jason I died I closed out of YouTube without finishing the show because I was so Sick of bury your gays. 

I am aware that there are reasons Jason died at the end of bare (they’re making a statement about how homophobia kills, particularly how homophobic religious people can have an awful affect on young religious gay people), but there comes a time when “reasons for a gay character to die” is just too much. sometimes, you just want the gay character to live, and I completely respect that notion because I felt the exact same way when I watched bare the musical. I remember when I first watched bare the musical I wrote a thread about how as a Romeo and Juliet adaptation, bare follows some things closely (like death at the end) while avoiding other extremes (Romeo running off to another country) and I thus felt the death was unnecessary. if someone else feels similarly about being sick of gay characters dying, they have every right to not want to watch bare 

that’s enough on why someone might not want to watch bare. let’s get back to bare vs DEH and BMC 

I also think a big aspect of fandoms is shipping. the fetishization of MLM (and consequently ignoring fem characters completely, along with focusing solely on white men for their shipping and ignoring men of color) is a huge problem in fandoms that I could talk about forever, but for the sake of this response, I’ll keep it a bit shorter 

DEH and BMC profit heavily off of shipping in terms of gaining popularity. people love Evan x Connor (and other ships but that’s the main one I see), and people love Jeremy x Michael (and others). so why then do people not care about bare, a show with a canon relationship between 2 basic white men, which is their ultimate goal? 

I think people like the idea of these mlm ships more than canon content. if there’s canon, it’s harder for them to make a variety of ships because it feels like everything else has to rotate around the canon without touching it (which is where the bare fandom gets Matt x Lucas because they’re the closest they have to 2 basic men- I can write my criticism of them another time though) 

I’ve also seen posts saying that things with canon lgbt+ characters sometimes have smaller fandoms because there is no need for lgbt+ theorizing- it’s right there, and if you want lgbt+ content, watch the thing. I don’t necessarily agree with this for myself (I’ll reblog every pilgrim’s hands gifset I see) but I can definitely see how other people might think this way 

failing to hype up stuff with lgbt+ characters can have a negative impact. BMC is the prime example of how a show can be revived by its passionate fan base. if people aren’t talking about bare, it’s not going to spread like other shows do 

this is kind of all over the place but anyway- I want to talk about characters more. one thing DEH and BMC have are great, complex characters that are very easy to boil down to a fandom’s favorite stereotypes. I am absolutely not saying DEH and BMC have simple characters because I think all of them have layers; however, fandoms do love to go “this is precious cinnamon roll who can do no wrong and this is evil awful terrible irredeemable person” and it’s a bit difficult to do that with bare. 

you can say Peter is your perfect son, but he does try to force Jason out before he’s ready. you can say Ivy is the evil seductress trying to tear apart your gay babies, but I will physically fight you. there aren’t any black-and-white good or bad bare characters (except Father Flynn- hate him), which doesn’t fit in line with the way fandoms function. sweeping generalizations about the current state of society based on the internet are exhausting and bad, but we do live in an age where everything must either be perfect or evil, and you can’t do that with bare. no one “did nothing wrong uwu” and that’s what fandoms Want 

(note: they will excuse wrong actions, such as everything wrong Connor Murphy has ever done, if the character is played by a mildly attractive guy they want to ship with another mildly attractive guy) 

another point that I don’t have fully fleshed out thoughts on enough to devote too much time to is the integration of parents into the shows. in both DEH and BMC, the parents get redemption arcs. in bare, Claire does say she love Peter at the end, but she’s much less of a sympathetic character than Mr. Heere or Heidi (that’s her name right- Evan’s mom) or the Murphys. when I was younger, I wasn’t allowed to watch anything that painted parents, or adults in general, in a negative light, but maybe that’s not a universal experience 

this is getting way too long and it probably has more thought put into it than what was necessary, so I’ll try to close this quickly 

I think, first off, that DEH and BMC completely deserve the hype that they have received. they’ve got compelling stories, interesting characters, and fantastic soundtracks. I also think that luck factors heavily into them getting what they deserve. there are plenty of great shows, like bare and the boy who danced on air and spies are forever and probably more that I’m not thinking of, that have great music and characters and story that, out of sheer chance, don’t get the chance they should have been given. there is no bulleted list someone can follow and at the end they’ll be on broadway with an armful of tonys; is the luck of the draw, and bare has not been afforded that chance 

I’ll end with some reasons why anyone who happened to read this but might not be a bare fan should listen to or watch bare: 

- it is an amazingly clever show; every time I watch it or listen to it, I realize another moment of foreshadowing or a line I originally brushed off was actually very significant or there’s another recurring motif/theme in the music 

- it’s full of bops (go listen to you and I or are you there or portrait of a girl) 

- canon gay characters in a canon gay relationship 

- 3 dimensional fem characters that actively criticize stereotypes 

- it’s about a religious gay boy who grapples with his religion and his sexuality and how those two things can coexist 

- it is Very Very Good

in conclusion: bare is very good and deserves attention xx

[paulisded]

The Ledge #466: Home Plays

I have to admit that I get too hung up on themes. Obviously, the new release episode is always going to be a part of the lineup, but I really don't have to create a basis for my weekly music choices. I actually wish that I could think in terms of just randomly airing songs that fir my mood for the day.

This week I actually attempt such a show, but there's still sort of a theme. These are all records that I've been listening to in my spare time. One is a newly-unearthed Rolling Stones bootleg. There's tracks from a great compilation of late 60's rockers from The Dakotas. There's a new Neil Young live album from his vast archives.

But the freedom of this loose theme is that I did throw in some songs that I have never aired before. That Soiuxsie and the Banshees album that I happened to grab at the record store a few weeks ago? Sure, why not. The Lloyd Cole track from the box set I ordered directly from Lloyd? Yep. A great 2018 album by The Conquerors that my friend Dan recommended? Of course. There's also some more recent records that have received some recent airplay, and there's always room for some live Replacements!

After listening, please go purchase those tracks you enjoy! These great artists deserve to be compensated for their hard work, and every purchase surely helps not only pay their bills but fund their next set of wonderful songs. And if you buy these records directly from the artist or label, please let them know you heard these tunes on The Ledge! Let them know who is giving them promotion! You can find this show at almost any podcast site, including iTunes and Stitcher...or

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW!

1. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Old Time

2. The Rolling Stones, It's Only Rock'N'Roll (But I Like It)

3. The Rolling Stones, She's Doing Her Thing

4. The Electric Banana, Street Girl

5. The Misunderstood, Children Of The Sun (IBC Acetate 1)

6. The Embermen Five, Baby I'm Forgettin'

7. The Tracers, She Said Yeah

8. X-Men, Until I Leave

9. Dale Gregory & The Shouters, Did Ya Need To Know?

10. The Trenchmen, Travel With Me

11. Neil Young, Crazy Horse, Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze

12. J Mascis, Repulsion

13. The Neighborhoods, Pure And Easy

14. Graham Parker, Hotel Chambermaid

15. The Fall, Jawbone and The Air Rifle

16. Buzzcocks, Harmony In My Head

17. The Drones, Be My Baby

18. The Bottle Rockets, Indianapolis

19. The Bottle Rockets, Radar Gun

20. The Conquerors, Wyld Time

21. The Conquerors, Can't You See

22. Lloyd Cole, She's A Girl And I'm A Man

23. PJ Harvey, The Sky Lit Up (Demo)

24. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Premature Burial

25. Built To Spill, Conventional Wisdom

26. Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Kid with the Replaceable Head

27. Jeremy Porter and The Tucos, History Lesson, Part III

28. Viagra Boys, Toad

29. Local Drag, Thought You Could

30. K7's, Main Man

31. The Replacements, Color Me Impressed

32. The Replacements, Unsatisfied

33. The Replacements, Hitchin' a Ride

34. The Replacements,  Nowhere Man

35. Tommy And The Rockets, Heart of the City

[venominyourcoffee]

Levi And His Robot Cat Girl Girlfriend

It was late at night, at least 3 in the morning. Ami was alone in her hotel room. The tv buzzes and plays advertisements in the background. With a screwdriver in hand, Ami was trying to do some maintenance on the gun on her leg. Ami’s eyes dart from her exposed leg wires and to a small tablet that hums and shows some instructions for maintenance. Ami speaks to herself with a focused tone as she tries not to get distracted.

“Let’s see, tight this bolt- secure this wire…” Ami let’s out a frustrated sigh as a though creeps in her mind. “Man, it’s late… where is he? If I have to bail his ass out again I swear.”

Ami hears a knock at the door and jumps slightly. Ami flips a mental switch and the gun retracts and the metal and synthetic plates cover the gun and resemble a normal leg. Ami gets up and looks through the peephole before opening the door. The sight that greets Ami is Levi with a satisfied smirk as he holds his side under a blood stained shirt. He lets out a huff and a snarky chuckle through the pain as he says “hey brat.”

Ami goes to help him walk but he quickly puts up his hand to stop her.

“Don’t touch me.” Levi said in a slightly annoyed tone. “I’m fine, went to some back ally doc. Bullet just grazed me. I just need to sit done.”

Levi limped his way to the big old couch in the main living room. He sits down with a groan and a sigh, as Ami stares with not a look of concern but annoyed. Ami speaks as she folds her arms and practically hisses at Levi. “Let me guess, Erwin again? Why get rich quick scam did you get mixed up in?” Levi’s brows frowned as he springs to his feat and uses his finger and thumb to grab Ami’s chin. He speaks in a low and clearly tired tone. “Listen to me! It was a decent score and we might get an even bigger paycheck. If this works I can actually get us what we deserve. Understand brat?”

Ami nodded and her ears slowly sank, she knew Levi wasn’t angry and just needed rest. Levi sat back down with a loud groan. He began rummaging through his pocket and pulled out a blood stained bullet.

“This is what shot me… it’s no ordinary round. When the Bastard shot it, it looked like it curved mid air. Do those little pretty brown optics of yours say anything?”

Ami focused as her optics scanned the bullet. After a few seconds Ami spoke as the data appeared in her vision. “Let’s see… came from a semi-auto pistol… low caliber… the manufacturer is the Armored Heart corporation? The only smart pistol they make is the MK 7 Mono. There was a huge factory recall of those.” Ami’s ears perk up as her tone changes to joy. “If the Heart Corporation is still allowing those to be sold, that’s against state code! Other companies would love to have kind of dirt! They’d pay through the nose!” Levi puts the bullet on a uneven table and flashes a devilish grin. “Exactly doll, Erwin set up a buyer and everything. For now I just lay low and wait. In fact doll how about some sleep? It’s past curfew.”

Ami nods and helps Levi lay down and the two fall asleep cuddling.

Ami wakes the next morning and doesn’t see Levi in bed, however she can hear the shower in the very close bathroom. Ami stands up and stretches. The sound of the close highway blares distant horns and sunlight filters through the tall buildings. As Ami stretched she can faintly hear the clicking of her joints and legs. Ami is lost in her morning yoga like routine, she doesn’t hear the shower stop or see Levi enter the room. Ami bends down to stretch and touch her toes until she jolts when she hears Levi’s voice. He whistles as he stand behind Ami, admiring his view. “My my, you may be an airhead Ami but damn your beautiful.” Ami blushes and she turns around to thank Levi. “Awww thanks babe I-“ as Ami turns she sees Levi is still naked and wet from his shower.

Ami’s eyes widen and she feels her face heat up, Levi looks unfazed as usual. Levi smirks as he walks past as Ami seems speechless by her man strutting his stuff. Ami can’t help but stare at Levi’s abs and of course what’s between his legs. Ami is so focused and flustered she slightly jumps when she feels Levi’s hand on her cheek. Levi smiles a little before he speaks in a teasing tone. “Like what you see? Well sadly I think I’m out of commission until the wound is healed fully. But maybe when we get back we can have a little fun.” Ami’s ears perk up as she composes herself and stutters as she speaks. “Yeah… wha- wait where are we going?”

Levi puts on underwear and pants and reaches for the bedside table and picked up a small chip like device. Levi says with a confidence filled laugh. “Forgot to tell you, Erwin dropped this off this morning. Not a lot but a good chunk of credits. Enough for us to have a good dinner and maybe I get you that dress you like.” Ami seems confused as she tilts her head and asks a question with complete innocence. “The pink and red one or the one that makes my ass look big?” Levi responds without missing a beat. “Doll every dress makes your ass look big, that’s why I buy them. To show the world your perfection and remind the world it’s mine.” Levi let’s a small devilish smile flash as Ami gets flustered again.

The two get dressed. Levi throwing on old jeans, a tight t-shirt and a leather jacket. Ami throwing on cut off jeans and a sweater. The two started their walk to the close by shopping district. As the two walked the sound of the urban city blare in the background. The sound of older car models hum on the street. Couples talk and fight in higher apartments as the higher end building skyline shines in the distance. Everywhere Levi looks he is reminded of one thing. This isn’t luxury, this is the world where you have to work and fight to survive. He knows he has to take chance but he knows not risk everything for nothing. But to him none of the fame or money means anything. What matters is every day he sees Ami smile. That one smile shows there’s still good in this world. That one smile is Levi’s one true joy he would fight tooth and nail for it. Ami knows she means a lot to him. However it’s hard for Levi to truly convey how much he cares, how much he loves her.

The two end up at the market place. Venders peddle second hand robotic tech and clothes. The occasional gang member collects protection money. exposed wires spark and bootleg transmissions talk in the background. It’s not the fancy kind of farmers market, but it’s a place where people make a living and you can buy decent stuff at cheep prices. Levi gently places his hand on Ami’s lower back to help guide her through the crowed and keep her close. Ami obliviously is just starting around and enjoying the day out. The two come across a small food stand that seems to be making breakfast food. The smell of fresh vegetables and synthetic condiments fill the air. The two sit down and ask the chef for two small breakfast melas and some coffee. The man nods and his robotic prosthetic beings preparing the meal.

Then man brings two cups of coffee and places two plates of bacon, eggs and hash browns. Levi starts eating but realizes how hungry he actually was and started eating faster. Ami smiles and laughs to herself as she eats more slowly. “Someone is hungry. Oh by the way you said Erwin dropped by, how is he? If you got grazed by a bullet I can’t imagine how he got out.” Levi slows down as he speaks with little to no emotion. “I got off easy, Erwin got really fucked up. When we got the info a security android ran up to him and broke his arm. When he came by our apartment his arm was in a cast. He looked high on pain killers too.” Levi went back to eating and Ami shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah I can’t say I blame him. Is he still using that hazard of a modded shotgun he made?” Levi chuckles to himself and he responds with a smirk. “Yeah, I swear that thing will blow his arm off one day. I half expect him to just throw it like a grenade one day.”

The happy couple continue eating until eventually Levi notices the chef slowly backing away. Suddenly a loud voice shouts from behind the two. “ACKERMAN!” Ami instantly flinches but Levi seems more annoyed since he knows who it is. The two turn around to see a group of three men in what can only be described as Apocalypse Clown attire. Messed up makeup, bats in barbed wire, leather jackets with big top color schemes and spiked Clown shoes. These guys would look so threatening… if there was actually an apocalyptic plot to this story. Now they just look like idiots in really bad cosplay with a clown fetish. Levi and Ami relax and Levi let’s out a deep sigh and has a tone laced with sarcasm and zero respect.

“Well if isn’t Max and the Big Top Bruisers. No wait you guys rebranded to The Quinn’s Gang right? I see your still rocking the clown aesthetic.”

The clown known as Max snaps back with clear anger. “You know damn well we are The Wild Cards right now! That- that doesn’t matter now. Long time no see Ackerman!” Ami speaks with complete innocence and dead pan delivery. “Didn’t I stab you with a fork at a bar a few days ago? And didn’t Levi kick you in the dick”

Levi quickly chimes in. “And he cried.” Ami responds with a blank expression and didn’t miss a beat. “Cried like a bitch.”

Max seems furious and snaps back like a child. “I didn’t cry! I am a clown of death and I spread fear wherever I go!” Ami and Levi exchange judgmental glares before both speaking in unison. “Really man?” Levi quickly ads with a mocking tone. “What, you gonna use your acid spraying flower on us? Oh maybe you’ll make a ballon animal and sick it on us?” Ami starts laughing and adds to the insult. “Oh maybe he’ll slip on a banana peel and make us laugh to death?” Levi let’s out a small chuckle and smiles at Ami before they high five. Max seem like steam is coming out his ears, figuratively speaking.

Max let’s out an angry grunt as he practically shouts. “Listen her you little shit! We heard you got dirt on a corporation, hand it over!” Neither Ami or Levi seem fazed by the yelling and Levi speaks with a slightly agitated tone. “Max, if a low life like you knows about my golden goose, don’t you think other higher gangs know?” Max looks a little confused but nods. Levi continues. “Then don’t you wonder why I didn’t just wake up with a bullet in my head this morning? If I have some easy money, why do you think other gangs weren’t waiting at my appointment?” Max let’s off a cocky laugh and smiles with a smug look. “Cause other gangs don’t know what a punk you are, or what easy pickings you are!” Levi sighed and let out a low tone. “Yup, your a moron.”

Levi throws his coffee cup in Max’s face, which shatters and spills hot coffee all over him as he falls to the ground crying in pain. In the confusion Levi springs up and in three punches to the stomach and face and one fantastic kick, he takes out of the other clowns. Ami quickly summersaults and wraps her legs around the third clowns head as she restrains his arms. With one quick motion the third clown is on the ground and in the tightest scissor hold he’s ever been in. Levi walks towards Max and grabs him by his glued on wig. Levi speaks calmly and in monotone. “Quick heads up, if you have dirt on a corporation don’t share it. The Corpo’s already know who’s involved and with each new party introduced, the payment gets smaller and more shared. Gangs wouldn’t even bother sharing the info cause it’s a lose lose for everyone. So fuck off. Amy let the man go.”

Ami let’s her legs go of the mans neck and he gasps for air. Ami stands up and brushes the dust off her outfit and walks to Levi’s side. Ami and Levi don’t even sound out of breath as they pay the chef and walk off. Levi’s hand rested on Ami’s hip as he pulled her close as they walk. Ami can’t help but blush as she says “there’s the man I love. I can’t help but love watching you fight.” Levi smiled and whispered into Ami’s ear in a teasing tone. “And I love watching those leg of yours go to work. Maybe we can buy a healing stem and you can work those legs for me at home doll.” Ami’s breath hitches as she shyly nods and squeaks out a response through blushed cheeks. “Y-yes sir.” Levi raises and eyebrow and smirks to himself when he hears the title.

The happy and slightly horny couple continued walking and window shopping as the day went on. Eventually a clothing store catches Levi’s eye. Levi talks with a warm smile, well as warm as he can be. “Hey Ami, how about a new dress? My treat.” Ami’s eyes sparkle and her ears perk up as she eagerly nods. The two head in as Ami looks for a new dress. Ami can’t help but hop up and down from excitement. Oblivious to her actions her chest moves as she jumps, which slowly eats away at Levi. Eventually Ami finds a dress she really likes. A short cocktail dress made from a latex material. Ami gets into a dressing room while Levi waits on a chair nearby. Levi notices practically no one is in the store. The only other soul in the store is the store clerk who seems very distracted by a magazine and loudly talking to a friend on her coms link.

Levi can’t get Ami out of his head. Seeing her jump and more importantly seeing her fight really got to him. Levi can’t help but let his hands slowly rest on his growing bulge as he tries to control himself. Eventually Ami opens the dressing room door wearing the dress. However she picked the right size, it seems the dress wasn’t meant for an Android with such assets. The dress barley covers Ami’s nipples let alone her actual chest. Ami doesn’t seem to even notice and smiles with pure innocence. “Well? Looks good? I love the color.”

This, seeing the woman he loves in such a fashion, this is what broke Levi’s resistance. Levi gets up and leads Ami back into the changing room and locks the door behind him. He manages to push Ami against the wall and rests his hand next to her head. With barely any effort, Levi slips the dress down and Ami’s chest falls out completely. Ami can’t help but pant and blush as Levi’s free hand massages her chest, as his fingers feel the softness and gets lost in her beautiful skin. Levi let’s out a small chuckle as he flashes a smile like a devil. “Damn babygirl, you have such an effect on me. You don’t know what you do to me. Maybe I have the strength to have you right here and now.” Ami stares deep into his eyes and almost gets lost in the feeling before letting shaky but eager words slip out. “I would love that darling.”

Levi acted on instinct as he attacked Ami’s neck with kisses and bites. Ami let out a moan before Levi used his free hand to cover her mouth. Levi’s breath was already speeding up, as he spoke with lust filled eyes and a smile. “Shhhh, be quiet brat. Don’t want anyone hearing you, do we?” Levi can feel Ami smile in his palm as she nods. Levi quickly helps Ami out of her dress as he steps back and smiles, admiring every curve. “Now we don’t want the dress to get dirty do- fucking hell… I forgot how beautiful you. And how lucky I am to have you to myself.”

Ami’s eyes widen as her checks burn and a flame in her core ignites. Ami can practically feel Levi’s eyes on her, as if his hands were caressing her voluptuous body. Levi has a hunger in his eyes as he can’t stop smiling. Levi’s hands find their way to Ami’s breasts as they message her. Levi forces his tongue into Ami’s mouth as it makes Ami start to lose focus. The two make out as if they haven’t met in months.

Levi pulls back and pinches both of Ami’s nipples hard, which earns a sharp moan from her. Levi speaks already with heavy deep breaths. “Oh Fuck brat, these pants are getting tight. How about you help me sweetie?” Ami nods as her tongue hangs slightly out of her mouth, her eyes seem glazed over with pleasure. Ami drops to her knees and fiddles with Levi’s zipper before dropping his pants and freeing his dick. As soon as the underwear comes off, Levi’s huge and hard cock springs out almost slapping Ami in the face. Ami’s mouth hangs open as she pants, as Levi’s hand rests on her head. Levi’s hand slowly massages her ears which perk and become sensitive. Levi speaks and Ami whines from the stimulation. His voice practically growling with animalistic lust. “Theres my beautiful brat. I saw you eyeing me up this morning. Well now you get what you wanted. Go ahead brat, eat up.”

Ami’s eyes widen and without hesitation, she slides Levi’s throbbing cock into her mouth. Ami’s wet and hot mouth extracts a loud moan from Levi, as his hand fists into her long hair. Levi speaks through fasting breath and his tone lowers. “Fuck! That’s so… good brat!” Ami bobs her head back and forth at a slow but decent pace. As Levi’s eyes squint at the pleasure, Ami’s hand slithers it’s way down her body and between her thighs. As Ami beings to rub between her folds, it causes her to moan and send vibrations through Levi’s twitching cock. Levi hears a knock and holds Ami’s head still, as he hears an annoyed voice. “Hey if y’all are gonna fuck in there, lock up for me. Keys are by the door. I’m going on a lunch break.” Levi smiles as he starts guiding Ami’s head back and forth as he snickers to himself. “Oh no baby, we were caught.” All Ami does is moan and blush.

All of this, her moans, his pleasure and building tension of release. It’s all of these factors that flips a switch in Levi’s head. Without ever saying a word, Levi pulls Ami off his dick and picks her up. He spins her around and pushes her on her hands and elbows. Levi quickly feels up Ami’s gorgeous skin and pulls Ami’s panties down. Ami pants and she shakes her ass in teasing fashion as she talks through shallow breaths. “W-what about your injury?” Levi digs his hands into Ami’s hips and smiles as he slides his dick against her dripping folds. Levi talks in a low tone and almost growls as he catches his breath. “Fuck my injury, I need you!” Without warning, Levi takes his dick away from Ami’s dripping heat and rams his dick hard deep into Ami’s asshole. Ami let’s out a sharp whine that evolves into a loud moan as Ami’s hands almost break the table she’s supported on with her grip. In a split second what feels like a deep pain melts into pleasure as Ami’s face makes an erotic expression as her mind shuts off. Levi gives a quick and hard slap to Ami’s ass, eliciting another loud moan. Levi digs his fingers into Ami’s hips and begins thrusting fast and hard.

Each thrust sends the echo of flesh hitting flesh. Each thrust brings a pleasured grunt from Levi, and a high pitched shriek of pleasure from Ami. Levi can’t keep but help talk during this moment. “Fuck, yes brat. We’re alone now, I want to hear you scream!” Ami’s eyes start rolling back as her free hand slips between her thick thighs and plays with herself. Ami let’s out broken words and moans as she sways with each thrust. “Oh fuck! Yes! More! Destroy my ass with your massive cock! Rearrange my guts! RUIN ME PLEASE!” These words of encouragement put Levi in a trance and his thrusts become fast. Like inhuman fast. Ami feels a growing fire in her core as she quickly finds true bliss and relief. However she may have climaxed, Levi doesn’t stop his thrusts. Ami can’t keep up and eventually regresses into a whimpering and moaning mess that begs for more and more. Ami’s voice cracks and reaches a high pitch as her words sound like broken prayers. “Please… more… please… fuck!”

Levi smiles as he hears his brat let out such pathetic begging whimpers. Yes he respects and loves Ami dearly. However knowing it’s so easy for him to make her scream, that’s something he takes great joy in. Levi thrusts as hard as he can, as Ami’s tight ass sucks him in deeper. With every thrust Ami’s ass flexes and becomes looser as Ami reaches a second orgasm with not a loud scream, but with a low whimper and a quiet curse under her breath. After a few minutes of Ami feeling like she’s going to pass out from pleasure and overstimulation, Levi grabs a fist of Ami’s hair and yanks back as he curses. “Fuck! Brat, take this!”

Ami feels hot and thick cum shoot deep into her, as Levi cums more then Ami expected. Levi’s cock twitches as he empty’s himself into his personal doll. There’s so much cum that it starts to leak out and drip down Ami’s thigh. Ami’s eyes roll back and all she can muster are small whimpers and broken yeses. Levi let’s go of Ami’s hair as he pulls out and takes a step back to admire his brat. Ami’s thigh shake as her legs feel weak. Her ass gapes and tries to re-clench at the sudden missing massive dick. As much as she clenches, her ass is wide open as it tries to wink at Levi. After a few seconds, Levi’s cum starts to drip, more like flow out of Ami’s gaping hole. Levi raises his hand high and gives a hard slap to Ami’s ass, which was the last bit of her strength gone as her legs give out and she falls to her knees. Ami sits in a puddle of hers and Levi’s cum that pools and stains her inner thighs.

Ami tries to catch her breath as she feels a rough grip on her throat, reach around and pull her sitting up. Ami was pushed against Levi’s thigh as his slowly softening cock twitches slightly in her peripheral vision.

Levi let’s out a low laugh as he talks to Ami while catching his breath. “Fuck… babygirl you did so good. My little brat really deserved that dress. Did you have fun darling?” Ami’s mouth hangs open for a few seconds as her head clears while she responds with a nod and a joyful tone. “Yeah… yes. That was amazing! But fuck my ass is sore… but I don’t mind.” Levi helps Ami to her feet and gives her a tight hug and a kiss to the forehead. The two mop up their mess and Ami gets dressed. As the two leave the dressing room, the find a note next to a key. The note reads. “When your done fucking in my store, lock up. The dress is on the house. That was the most interesting thing all day.”

The two laugh to themselves and lock up the store and head out, with the now partially dirty dress in a bag. Levi checks his phone which was blowing up with missed calls, which were blocked out by Ami’s moans. All of the calls were from Erwin, now voice mail. Levi calls back Erwins number and the phone barley rings before Erwin picks up. “Jeez man I’ve been trying to call you! Where were you?” Levi with a completely dead pan tone responds. “Busy. What do you want?” Erwin sighs before responding. “Well we found a buyer for the intel. I need you as a witness. Come to dock 4 now.” Erwin hangs up and Levi gives an annoyed sigh as he turns to Ami. “Can we make a pitstop and head to the docks? Erwin found a buyer.” Ami nods and the two make their way to the docks district.

The day passes as the afternoon light shimmers on the waterfront. Large ships pass in the distance branding corporation logos on the side of the ships. Erwin stands I front of his classic restored muscle car. His blond hair sways in the breeze. His left arm is covered in a cast that is lightly covered by his large leather rain coat. Levi and Ami walk to to him. Levi speaks before his attention is grabbed. “Hey Erwin good to- oh no. Your growing that stupid beard back?” Ami snickers to herself as she speaks with a smile, trying to hide her laughter. “Hey Erwin, good to see you. You like a teenager in high school bro.” Erwin uses his free and and feels his chin stubble. He sighs and texts something on his phone. “Look, just- it’s hard to shave and- that’s not important. The buyers will be here soon. I did most of the work, I just need you to back me up. The buyers are the Rose Gold corporation. You might have heard of them, big time weapon manufacturer.” Levi nods and shoots a smug grin and speaks with a chuckle. “And their about to drop their new line of smart rifles right? No wonder they’d be pissed about this.” Erwin nodded with a similar confident smirk.

The two chitchat for a bit before four armored SUV’s with tinted windows pull up in a circle formation. Several armed and masked figures with trench-coats step out of the cars and stand still. A woman in a high end suit steps it and looks directly at the group. Ami let’s out a small gulp as she’s not used to corporate meetings. Levi notices and pulls Ami to his side and wraps one arm around her waist. He whispers to a Ami in a reassuring voice. “Just keep calm, don’t flinch. Don’t show these idiots that their all talk is working.” The woman walks up to Erwin and speaks with both sass and a little respect. “Your Erwin right? You said you have proof the Armored Heart Corporation is in violation of a weapon recall?” Erwin nodded and silently hands the woman a chip with a stern look. The woman saps the chip into her phone and reads the report. The woman stays silent for a few seconds before she turns her eyes to Levi, completely ignoring Ami.

The woman speaks with a very bored tone. “And you have the proof?” Ami subtly clung to Levi as he pulled out the smart pulley from his pocket. He tossed it in the air and the girl in the suit caught it and snapped her fingers. One of them masked men in trench-coats slowly walked up and held the bullet in front of his mask. The mask lit up as it scanned the bullet. The masked figure nods and the woman gives a smirk. She pulls out her phone and speed dials someone and starts speaking. “Yes- Yes it’s confirmed. Send the payment.” The woman hangs up and smiles as she extends her hand for a handshake. “Thank you mister Levi, mister Erwin and… whoever the cat girl is. The money will be in your accounts by tomorrow. Pleasure doing corporate espionage with you.” The woman keeps her hand extended to Levi, who keeps and iron stare and stays still. All Levi does is hug Ami closer to him and doesn’t budge one bit. The woman slowly closes her hand and nods as her and her masked figures get back into the SUVs and start to drive off.

Once the cars drive out of sight, Erwin let’s out a deep sigh as if he was holding s breath the whole meeting. “Fuck I hate meeting with Corpos. But that went better then I expected. You good Ami?” Levi turns to Ami and gives her a kiss on the forehead and a tight hug. Levi speaks in a loving tone that surprises Erwin a little. “Are you ok sweetie? You did very well, I’m proud of you.” Ami’s eyes go doe eyed as her ears perk up and a warm smile shines on her face. Ami knew she was safe with her man, and Levi would protect her with all he had. Ami nods and kisses Levi’s cheek and smiles as she talks. “Yup! I think you had that woman shaking in fake ass leather boots!” Levi laughs before he notices Erwin’s face of disbelief. Levi quickly let’s out a shout like an attack dog but with a very straight face. “The fuck you looking at Erwin?” Erwin snaps back and coughs as he awkwardly responds. “Oh! Nothing. Umm… I can drive you guys back home if you want?”

Levi and Ami nod as they hop in the back of Erwin’s car. He turns the key and hears the rwar of an older engine and the car speeds off. As the car drives along the highway near the docks, the setting sun shines on the coast and gently illuminate Levi and Ami cuddling in the backseat. As Ami relaxes in Levi’s arms, he gently rubs her head and shoulders as he whispers in her ear. “It’s days like these that remind me all over why I love you darling.” Ami smiles warmly and kisses Levi’s check as she whispers back. “And I love you too baby.”

[evak-isakxeven]

The third season of Norwegian teen series Skam dismantled stereotypes, coerced schoolkids into skiving off classes and turned homophobes into rainbow flag-waving defenders—and it first began airing one year ago today. It was the “gay” season, charting the blossoming relationship of Isak Valtersen and Even Bech Næsheim, both coming to terms with their sexuality amidst a cutting background of teenage angst. Taking every fan poll I’ve ever come across into account, season three was by far Skam’s most popular. It broke streaming records in Norway, and television viewership records in neighboring Denmark and Sweden. Throughout its 10-episode run, it hardly left the list of worldwide trending topics on any given social platform. With a short promo clip that could have been a stand in for a gay snuff film—jockish throbs in a locker room being showered with milk in slow motion—the series wasn’t afraid to shy away from explicitly homosexual subject matter. Or any hot button subject. Homophobia, bullying, mental health—nothing was off the cards for series creator Julie Andem. Only a few episodes deep and the series’ popularity reached a fever pitch. Its progressive narrative rested squarely on the sinewy backs of two hunky young actors. Tarjei Sandvik Moe, 18, and Henrik Holm, 22, who embodied these characters for several short years. The monumental shift from tiny Scandi show to international hit uploaded to Google Drive with bootleg subtitles didn’t go unnoticed. “While we were shooting it, we were kind of living in the Skam universe, and suddenly there were people trying to take pictures of us,” remembers Holm. A fourth season came and went centering on the Muslim character, Sana, and though it garnered both debate and praise, people couldn’t help but ache for the return of Isak and Even. Then the series ended, seemingly without warning. Fans were left reeling. Pillows were cried into. And the explanation for its conclusion was a bit weak. However, Holm and Moe pulled it off, providing a thrilling true-to-life coming out story that was neither navel-gazing nor embellished. It felt real, which is why fans—gay and straight alike—have rallied behind this show and reevaluated their attitudes toward sexuality and mental health. Now, the show is headed for impending doom of an American remake. And Tarjei Sandvik Moe and Henrik Holm are teetering on the precipice of intensely promising careers, leaving their beloved characters behind. But we’ll always have Isak and Even. TREY TAYLOR: Can you tell me how you got the role on Skam? TARJEI SANDVIK MOE: It was an open audition and they announced that they needed people born between 1996 and 1999. So the casting guy came to our school and 1,000 people or more came to audition, and I just signed up. In the last round [of auditions], I got told that I was going to audition for Isak. I also auditioned for the role of Jonas but I got the Isak role. I was watching a movie when I found out I got the part. They said it would take a couple of weeks to find out, so I wasn’t stressing at all because it had just been one week since the audition. They called me and told me they wanted to offer me the part of Isak and I didn’t know what that was but I was happy because nobody had cast me professionally before that. It was only my second audition so I didn’t think it would happen. I didn’t want to tell my mom so I just walked into a room where I could be by myself and I just screamed “Yes!” [laughs] HENRIK HOLM: I was introduced in the third season. Skam had its breakthrough in Scandinavia in its second season. Everybody knew what Skam was and there were so many people that wanted to join the “Skamily”. They had open auditions for the third season. They were looking for someone between the ages of 17 and 19. I was thinking about [auditioning] but after two days they had a press release in the Norwegian media where they said, “Hold up, we can’t take anymore resumes.” A few months later, during summer vacation, I found out that my mother had sent in my resume for me and they had tried to contact me through messenger on Facebook. But I wasn’t friends with the girl who was casting so it was in the message requests folder. So I hadn’t seen it and I checked the message and it was dated two months ago. So I got so stressed and messaged her back saying, “Hi, please let me know if you have any more chances!” I put my phone in my pocket and went to work at a local café. On my lunch break, I took my phone out of my pocket and realized I hadn’t pressed the lock button, so I was basically pocket texting her for two hours and sending her voice messages. I was so embarrassed. I thought, “This is the end of me. I’m not going to get any more jobs in this industry.” But for some reason she was very cool and was like, “This could happen to anyone.” And they brought me in for the last week of auditioning. I think it might have been the last day. MOE: You were the last one! I think you were the last person to audition. HOLM: Wow, that’s so cool. First I auditioned with another guy and the second round I got to meet Tarjei and we started talking and it was a good fit. The same day I was at the audition with Tarjei they wanted us to do a [role-playing] test. Tarjei was going to tell me that he slept with my girlfriend and I walked out of that room. I really felt that part went bad. I was so down and I was like, “Oh my god, he actually slept with my girlfriend.” MOE: Because I was so cocky when I was saying it! [laughs] I was like, “Sorry man!” HOLM: Yeah, you were a douchebag! [laughs] So I started walking home with my head hung, because I was so depressed—I thought I blew my last shot! I got home to my friends that I lived with and I was like, “It didn’t go well.” I was really depressed for like two hours and then [Skam creator] Julie [Andem] called me and was like, “Henrik, how would you feel if I told you you were going to play the part of Even?” and I immediately started screaming. It went from the bottom to the top. TAYLOR: Tarjei, you said you wanted to play the part of Jonas and not Isak. Why? MOE: I didn’t know anything about the series and we got to read about all the characters. So I got to read about Yousef, Isak, Mikael, William, Chris … and when I read about Jonas, he seemed like the coolest dude ever! We didn’t know who was going to be the main character, and I was like why can’t I play the cool dude?! I want to be the cool dude, the dressed up guy. In the information about Isak, it said he was manipulative and stuff like that. It also said he was gay and I was like … hmm. There was no problem with that, I just thought that Jonas was the coolest guy ever. I think Marlon [Langeland] did a good job of it. So it was a good thing that they cast me for Isak and Marlon for Jonas, that was the right choice. But back then I wanted to be Jonas so much. HOLM: Did it really say in the description that your character was gay? MOE: Yeah! The last sentences of each character’s description included the biggest secrets of that character. Isak’s secret was that he liked boys. So I knew it from the start. TAYLOR: I thought it was decided later on when characters in the show kept making comments that Isak was gay. MOE: Even though I knew it the whole time, I wasn’t thinking about it. I don’t know how it is but I don’t think that gay people walk around [thinking about how] they’re gay. My job was playing Isak, not playing “gay”—you know what I mean? TAYLOR: I also heard that you asked Julie if your character could hook up with Vilde on the show. MOE: Yeah, that was Ulrikke [Falch]. She was the one hoping for that. I was like, “Yeah, that would be cool,” because I like Ulrikke. She’s so fun and cute, so I thought that would be cool. TAYLOR: Why did Julie say no? MOE: I don’t know. I think because she had her own plan for everything. That was just a secret thing Ulrikke and I [shared]. We were just like, “Oh my god we should hook up on the show!” Julie was more like, “How about you guys hook up outside of the show?” [laughs] TAYLOR: Tarjei, how did you find out that you were going to be the main character in season three? MOE: She called me from the start of season one, so I knew then. But I didn’t take it seriously. I said, “Julie, this thing is not going to work for three seasons.” I doubted there was even going to be a second season. When we got to season two and [the show] started to get big I thought, “I have a big responsibility.” I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Julie said, “You can do it, if you couldn’t do it I wouldn’t have chosen you to be a main character.” So I trusted Julie more than I trusted myself. TAYLOR: Have you heard any particular stories that people have told you about how you helped them come out, or helped in dealing with their mental illness? MOE: I’ve had those experiences when people are so surprised when they meet me and they start shaking and saying stuff like, “You saved me”. Also people who are really deep and serious and are like, “Man, I came out of the closet because of Isak.” That’s big. I think it defends the work of making TV and doing acting. It can change people and it’s such fun work. When I’m acting I’m thinking like, “Oh my god I get paid to do this.” But when you see it could change the world like that I think, “Okay, I deserve my paycheck.” [laughs] HOLM: I’ve met people who understood that they were bipolar by watching our performances. I’ve also met people that have gotten the courage to tell their families that they were gay, but also so many young people who have struggled with their mental health, for years, and they found something that wasn’t only glamorous and pretty to look at but also very raw and understanding. There aren’t a lot of series that have such a deep level of understanding of homosexuality and mental illnesses. MOE: I’ve also met straight people—straight people have said like, “When I first saw Isak and Even kissing, I thought that was disgusting, but after watching it and understanding the characters I realized it’s actually not disgusting. They’re just loving each other like everyone else.” So it’s not only gay people accepting that they’re gay but straight people accepting that other people are gay. TAYLOR: So you have met homophobic people that have changed their mind? MOE: Yeah they stopped being homophobic because they saw that it’s not the worst thing [to be gay]. TAYLOR: I want to talk about that kardemomme scene—you said it was mostly improvised. I heard you rapped the entire “Express Yourself” song by N.W.A. but it got cut. HOLM: [laughs] What did happen that day? MOE: I did rap the whole thing and it got cut out because my rapping was too long. That would’ve made people turn off their TV and be like, “What the fuck is this?! If I wanted to see rapping I would go see rapping!” HOLM: With my bad beat boxing. TAYLOR: When you were making the toast was that improvised? HOLM: We were shooting in Marlon [Langeland]’s apartment. Even’s room is Marlon’s room in real life. They didn’t know what kind of herbs were in his kitchen cupboard, so they just threw out a lot of herbs.There were so many strange names of spices that we had never heard of before. TAYLOR: Did they let you smoke weed? Was that real? HOLM: Oh, no! [laughs] I didn’t even get to roll my own joint! I really had a big dream that I was going to get to roll my own joint as the character. But then I got on set, and the costume boss had one of her friends roll up the whole pack; it was like seven joints or something. I was so depressed because I really wanted to do it myself, and personally I didn’t think it was very well rolled, so I wasn’t too satisfied with the joint—but it wasn’t real weed. We had to smoke herbal cigarettes. MOE: Yeah, it wasn’t tobacco. We smoked some herbs or something. It wasn’t good! HOLM: It was worse than cigarettes because it made you feel glossed over, and you felt really weird in your mouth and you got a bad taste and a headache. I wish it was real weed but it wasn’t. MOE: Earlier that day I also shot the scene, which is the first scene in the episode, when I’m laying in the bath and I smoke from that bong. So I did so much smoking that day, I was depressed afterwards. [laughs] TAYLOR: Henrik, did you have to learn the lyrics to Gabrielle’s “5 Fine Frøkner” for that kitchen scene? HOLMS: I got a text from Julie the day before and she was like, “Henrik you need to help me find a cool song and it’ll be the song that Even will sing to Isak. She proposed “Ah-Ha” by Take On Me, but that was going to be too cliché. So she proposed Gabrielle, and I personally like Gabrielle, but I haven’t listened to much of her songs, and that special song, “5 Fine Frøkner” is a song that was on the radio all the time. The whole summer it had been playing and people were kind of sick of it, like “Despacito.” So my immediate response to Julie was, “Please no, don’t make me do that!” I sat down and listened to the song about three times and started dancing and was like, “Yeah, I really dig this song now!” I had to rehearse the lyrics but when we got on set I had only rehearsed it like three times, so it made it more natural that I didn’t know all the lyrics. TAYLOR: That’s funny because when the show came out and that song played, everybody started downloading it and it became even more popular. [“5 Fine Frøkner” saw a 3,018 percent increase in listening on Spotify after the episode aired, with over 13 million streams]. MOE: I think that Gabrielle owes us some money… [laughs] TAYLOR: Did you guys have a favorite music moment from the show? HOLM: I watched [Skam] when it aired on television, but I must say “O Helga Natt” was the first time I watched that scene and heard the song; I was getting goosebumps all over my neck. MOE: It was so surprising to watch because as we were shooting it, it didn’t sound like that. I always thought it was good but I was just running around the streets of Oslo, and it was the scene where we meet each other and go to the school yard. They were playing this music— HOLM: It made all the focus go away because we were doing maybe the most sensitive and fragile scene in the whole series. But the moment we walked out in the schoolyard, there was a party next door. It was very funny. I almost forgot that. [laughs] TAYLOR: Have either of you ever connected with a piece of media or a piece of art as intensely as viewers connected with Skam? MOE: Yeah in theater, with small theater things. HOLM: But in the same way as fans who have traveled to see the place and meet the people and everything? MOE: Well no, but I have also had those big experiences where I’ve thought, “Okay, I’m going to change my life and do things differently after seeing this.” HOLM: There are so many movies that have changed my view on acting and my perspective of the world and everything, but what was most absurd to me was that these people were actually praising us, or coming to Oslo and walking in our footsteps. It was like, why are they doing this? But my mother explained it very well to me when she reminded me of my huge crush when I was a teenage boy. I was so in love with Jessica Alba, and I was willing to do anything to meet her. I was sitting at home the day I realized I was never going to meet Jessica Alba crying my eyes out. I was so down, and I actually had to go back to that place where I was idolizing who Jessica Alba was, and how she was going to be with me and everything—that made me understand how these people who really connected with Isak and Even’s story wanted to meet us and show us how much it meant to them. That made me open up my eyes to what this show has done for people and that it had a very positive impact on people’s lives. TAYLOR: How old were you when you were obsessed with Jessica Alba? HOLM: Oh I don’t know, I was not old at all. I was like 12 years old or something, 12 or 13. I was dreaming about her every night. [laughs] TAYLOR: Why did the show end? HOLM: Julie is such an artist that when she started thinking about this project, she was thinking about it and dreaming about it all the time. Doing that on and on for two years, I feel like that was enough. But at the same time I think she also thought about the actors. She didn’t want us to be too connected to our roles, in the way that many series go on for year after year, and the actors become more or less their role. TAYLOR: Were you shocked when you found out it was ending? HOLM: It was a shock, but it wasn’t a surprise. MOE: She made four seasons of TV in two years and she wrote everything; she directed everything; she even chose the music! So the fact that she even did one season is impressive to me, and the fact that she made four is fantastic. TAYLOR: I’m part of all these Skam Facebook groups. I saw in one of them that these two guys booked a trip to that hotel you stayed in and found the room and ate some mini burgers just like Isak and Even. How does it make you feel when people do things like that? MOE: I hope they know that that’s not our life, it’s our characters. [laughs] It’s funny, I basically do that without trying because I’m attending [the school the show was filmed in], Hartvig Nissen, and I’m the same age as Isak, which is a total coincidence. But I’m still going to Nissen. I am basically on the set everyday. I also meet a lot of people who come to the school to take pictures of the school and also take pictures of me too. If someone told me two years ago that I would be in a series that would make people from China go to Oslo to take pictures of not that pretty of a school, I would be saying, “What the fuck?!” [laughs] HOLM: I must say that the greatest part of it is that we achieved something of an impact on people. Skam has actually changed people’s lives for the better. That’s why I think people are trying to walk in Isak and Even’s shoes—their lives actually changed for the better. I’ve meet so many people that were affected by, not only the characters and how we portray them, but also the fan base and the warmth inside of all the fans that it became a family that started connecting with each other from across the world. They found something that they could enjoy together and can talk about as much as they wanted. It has much more than race and culture, it was something that was so real to people, irrespective of where you were from or what sexuality you were. Julie made a series that was possible for everyone to understand even if you were 14 or 90 years old. That’s what I think was so special about Skam. http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/skams-isak-even-revolutionized-teen-tv

[ialwayscomewhenyoucall]

“You’ll pick up Sam and get him home in plenty of time,” says Benny. “Come on, Dean. You don’t have to stay long. But they just got a new shipment. All the guys are going to be there! And I’ll bet there will be girls, too.” He winks.

I roll my eyes. “You mean Andrea is going to be there,” I say.

He has the decency to blush.

“Sam’s fine, Dean. He’s with Charlie. And you know he won’t even notice, not when there’s studying to do. We don’t have to stay long. I just...I heard they’ve got musicians coming tonight. Jazz, Dean! Dancing!” He grabs me and swings me around.

I laugh, pushing him away. “All right, all right, just leave me be! Get Andrea to dance with you please.”

“Oh, I will,” Benny says, twirling me one more time before letting go. He winks. “I just can’t resist those freckles.”

The speakeasy is a block off of Main Street, in the basement of an old dry goods store. They built a brand new Sears and Roebuck in the city a few years back, so the smaller places don’t do as much business anymore. The owner of the store gave up his basement to have a place to drink bootleg liquor. It wasn’t much of a sacrifice.

We both know how to get in. The door is in an alley, down a few stone steps. Benny gives the secret knock, and when the door cracks open, mumbles, “Elephants.” The door opens the rest of the way and we slip in, quiet-like. Half the town knows about the speakeasy, and most of them know the current password, but that doesn’t mean we want the other half to find out.

We walk through the doors and down a hallway, but it feels like crossing into another world. Dim lights flicker. A long bar hug one wall, and small round tables fill half the room. The far end is set up like a stage, about eight inches higher than the rest of the room, with an upright piano off to one side and room for other musicians. The space between the tables and the stage is left clear, for dancing.

And the music. Benny had been right, there is a jazz quartet. Most of the time there was just someone plunking away--and generally not very well--on the piano. But tonight the music of piano, bass, drums, and trombone swirl through the room, slow and easy and seductive.

“Come on,” says Benny, pulling me toward the bar. “I see Andrea. Let’s go get a drink.”

“Yeah, it’s a drink you’re thinking of right now,” I tease.

Bobby Singer grins at us from behind the bar. “We’ve got the good stuff, boys. This ain’t no bathtub gin, we’ve got real rum, up from Mexico!” He puts two glasses in front of us.

The first sip warms my throat. The second warms my belly. Soon my face is flushed and I’m warm to the tips of my toes.

Benny had entangled himself with Andrea as soon as we had our drinks, so I drift toward the musicians. I’d never learned an instrument--I always worked extra hard on the farm so Sammy could focus on school--but I love music. It’s early enough that there are only a few couples dancing, so I can get close to the stage.

The pianist is a woman with long red hair. Her fingers float over the keys. Two men play bass and trombone. I barely see them, can’t even hear the music anymore, because the drummer…

I’ve never seen a man so beautiful. Dark, messy hair, shining blue eyes, a crooked smile. The sticks in his hands keep time--ta-ta-taaa, ta-ta-taaa--and when his eyes capture mine I forget to breathe.

The song finishes with a flourish of drums and a drawn out note from the trombone. There is a smattering of applause and the redhead at the piano says, “Thanks, everyone. We’re going to take a little break, but we’ll be back in ten minutes!” She turns and walks off the stage. Without looking away from me, the drummer says to her, “I think I’m going to stay out here, Anna.”

Anna follows his gaze to look at me. “Suit yourself,” she says with a knowing smile. She and the other musicians head toward the small dressing room.

I can’t remember how to move.

“I’m Castiel,” he says as he stands and walks to the edge of the stage.

Castiel. The name suits him. Dark and mysterious.

“Dean,” I somehow manage.

“Hello, Dean.” he says, and already I know I want to hear him say my name every day, a thousand different ways.

“I haven’t seen you around,”

“We just arrived, all four of us. We got jobs at the new hospital. Music is just our hobby. Anna is a nurse, Gabriel and Michael are doctors, and I work in the kitchen. I’m a cook.”

Without thinking I blurt out, “You play an instrument and you can cook? If you can dance too I’d say you’re just about perfect.” I feel my cheeks turning red, and hope it’s not too noticeable in the dim light.

He smiles and holds out a hand. “Would you like to dance?”

“I--uh--there’s no music,” I say, rather obviously.

He winks. “We’ll make our own.”

I take his hand, lacing our fingers together. He pulls me close, and he’s right. Somehow there is music.

I find Benny and Andrea on the dance floor. I have to raise my voice to be heard over the now exuberant jazz. “I’ve got to go get Sam and get home. Dad’s probably already wondering why we’re so late.”

“How can you leave now?” asks Andrea. “This music is the bee’s knees!”

“Not to mention the drummer,” murmurs Benny with a wink.

I grin, then turn my smile toward Cas, who smiles back. “So you saw that, then?”

Benny snorts a laugh. “Everyone saw that, Dean. The two of you were dancing on an empty dance floor with no music.”

“Thanks for dragging me along tonight, Benny,” I say.

Before I go up the stairs I nod my head at Cas, who nods back.

We’ll see each other soon.

Inktober with the Bunker || Day 9: 20′s/Prohibition Era

[sparkiesnotes-blog]

Thoughts on Dear Evan Hansen

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Plot: 4/5

Songs: 4.5/5

For starters, it 100% deserved that Tony, any naysayers can go away, sorry. I love Great Comet and Groundhog day with all my heart and I wouldn’t have been upset to see them win, but I would have been surprised it wasn’t this wonderful musical.

As someone who has struggled with their mental health pretty much all their life, has gone through having people close to me commit suicide and has always used music and musical theatre as a guide and an escape from it, to hear that a musical was coming to broadway dealing with issues such as depression, anxiety and suicide in teens was too good to be true!

With the conversation surrounding mental health gradually getting more mainstream and more people are talking about it, a musical surrounding these themes couldn’t be more up my alley.

I’ve been excited for this musical ever since the lyrics came out and that was all I had to go off of. I knew all the words to the songs before the cast recording had even come out.

I think the songs perfectly sum up all the mish mash of feelings of when you’re in those low moments, the climactic song towards the end of the second act ‘Words Fail’ is both one of the most powerful performances from Ben Platt (a well deserved Tony, might I add) and perfectly rounds out the self hatred and pity that one can feel for oneself in a depressive state.

I feel like the representation of masculinity in this show is really important. Societal pressures on masculine identifying people tell them to keep quiet about their feelings and to keep them guarded and to not let anyone see. “Suicide is four times more common in men than women, and in 2005, 1,657 men took their own lives (ABS, 2007)” Source

To have the main character be a sensitive, non-stereotypical and intuitive teenage boy is incredibly important and necessary to see.

The only thing that I have a gripe with the show about is it is a little lacking in diversity. Coming from last years season where the four tony actor and actress award winners all went to people of colour going into a season that was back to a pretty whited out run (coughBandstandcough), it was disheartening to see only one black named character, Alana. When you look at the statistics in mental health in teens, the difference in teens of colour compared to white teenagers is astronomical. “A disproportionate number of suicides occurred among young male American Indians during this period—young men 15 to 24 accounted for 64 percent of all suicides by American Indians (CDC, 2001).” Source  

So, to not see this represented was disheartening, POC need this representation just as much as white people do. I hope that one day broadway can realise this.

While you can head cannon all you want (Evan and Connor are both trans and literally nothing you can say will stop me from believing it), the queer representation is appalling. From what I’ve researched (I haven’t had time to watch the full bootleg yet, but someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!), its not even outrightly stated that Jared is gay. Its just the stereotypes played out. Again, in queer teens mental health is a huge issue, the discrepancy between queer youth and cisgender heterosexual youth in mental health is disgustingly drastic.

“Compared to the general population, LGBTI people are more likely to attempt suicide in their lifetime, specifically:

LGBTI young people aged 16 to 27 are five times more likely

Transgender people aged 18 and over are nearly eleven times more likely

People with an Intersex variation aged 16 and over are nearly six times more likely

LGBT young people who experience abuse and harassment are even more likely to attempt suicide”

Source

Obviously, I’m not saying that every story is able to be told in one singular musical, but for a musical to be claiming to represent mental health in teens, and then missing out representing the biggest proportion of teens who have these problems, is very sad to see.

Before I go into a talk through of each song below the cut I want to say that I truly love this musical. On days when it was hard to get out of bed or thought it would be better if I were to disappear, this musical has honestly pulled me out of those gutters.

I completely understand that this musical means a lot to some people, and I 100% empathise with why and I’m so happy for you that this musical was able to help you and I. I’m able to enjoy it despite its flaws, of which there are very few, and I definitely come from the mindset of the people who really love something are the most critical of it. 

If you haven’t yet, give Dear Evan Hansen a listen! However I recommend reading the Wikipedia synopsis along with it as the plot can be hard to understand from just the soundtrack! Talk through of the soundtrack/spoliers below the cut

- Sparky <3

Anybody have a map? - I think this is a perfect example and representation of how hopeless and helpless a parent can feel when trying to support a struggling teen. Also, in this show is a wonderful representation of single mothers and I think this song sets it up well.

The harmonies in are beautiful, I love harmonies in any song, add a harmony to anything and I’ll love it I promise. 

Waving through a window - Ahhhh I love this song a lot. Close to my favourite. This was the song I first read the lyrics to before the musical came out and I just aGH. It perfectly sums up social anxiety in a string of beautiful and melodic metaphors. The idea of “Waving through a window” and questioning whether anyone is waving back is something that many people, including myself, have gone through or are going through. A beautiful, beautiful song and message for a all too relatable topic.

Ben Platt’s combination of soft almost soothing notes with the belting of the final notes in the song is perfect. I can’t think of another adjective to describe it.

For Forever - A beautiful melody mixed with a beautiful fantasy. The fact that this is him imagining what it would be like to have a friend is heartbreaking. The voice crack on “He’s coming to get me”, gets ME everytime. 

Also Ben Platt can hit a high note holy poop.

Sincerely Me - For a pretty dark musical, this song is the perfect uplifting BANGER. Doing the dance to myself in the car on the freeway is dangerous though, would not recommend.

The no homo moment in it is a bit :/ though.

Requiem - I’ve got to admit the first few times I heard this song I didn’t like it. I hated the idea of someone saying that they were glad that their brother was dead and asking why they should miss them. I hated the idea of a person who is suicidal sitting in that audience or listening at home, hearing what they already believed for themselves what Zoe was saying, that they wouldn’t be missed. 

But it wasn’t until a friend pointed out what this song was really saying, how it was representing different ways of dealing with grief until I realised that it was incredibly important. I now love this song.

If I could tell her -  Ugh. I have so many gripes with this song I’m sorry.

First of all anyone who sees this song as a love song I have questions for you.

This song is so idealising of Zoe, and so ‘manic pixie dream girly’ I die. 

I get the social anxiety side of it. I get having all of these thoughts bubbling inside of you and being too anxious to tell someone, I get it, trust me. 

But its the fact that he says “I love you”, I’m sorry but you can’t love someone you’ve never spoken to before. You can love the idea of a person. You can like how a person looks or acts. But you cannot love them.

And the fact that this is all being said as if it were Connor, her dead brother is just so messed up. I get that thats the point but, I just worry that people will see this song as ‘goals’ or ‘I wish someone would think/ do that for me’ when it is NOT a healthy outlook on women, love or just people.

It’s a lovely song, but I wish it was less idealising and was phrased differently. Less ‘not like other girls’ please.

Disappear - No one does deserve to disappear. Some days it was only this song that could tell me that.

You will be found - This is my favourite song on the soundtrack. I love this song so much. I have the lyrics as a sticker on my laptop and in a frame next to my bed. I have one distinct memory of this song.

It was a really dark moment, I had woken up from some horrific nightmares, was in the midst of a bad brain time and all I wanted was to go back to sleep, forever. But I had work that day, I had stuff to do. I put on this song and at the end of it, I was crying and getting up to get in the shower, something I didn’t even realise I was capable of that day. This song gives me so much motivation, I do have other songs that do the same things, but the fact that this is up there with other songs, is big for me.

If you listen to one song from this musical, listen to this one. You will not regret it.

“Let that lonely feeling wash away Maybe there’s a reason to believe you’ll be okay ‘Cause when you don’t feel strong enough to stand You can reach, reach out your hand

And oh, someone will coming running And I know, they’ll take you home

Even when the dark comes crashing through When you need a friend to carry you And when you’re broken on the ground You will be found”

To break in a glove - Eh. I like the message. But, you know how theres that one song in a musical you always skip over? This is mine :-)

Only us - Can Laura Dreyfuss make a lullaby?? Please?? She has such a soothing and beautiful voice I love it so much.

This song is a really good representation of what its like to date someone with a mental illness. Its a beautiful duet and I love it to pieces.

Good for you -  Literally the best song if you just need to be angry. This song ignites a fury in me like little else can. All I want to do is PUNCh stuff after I listen to it, I love it. Amazing.

Words Fail - Ben Platt deserved that Tony and if you want an example of why just listen to this. It’s beautiful, simple, elegant and heartbreakingly sad all at once.

So big/so small - Single mothers need to be worshipped by every person on earth I’m pretty sure its in the Bible. I also think this is really good representation of what a kid needs from their parent when going through a mental health spiral, undying and unconditional support and love.

Finale - :’), Honestly incredible. I don’t know how many ways I can say I love this musical, but I do, I really do. 

“Today is going to be a good day. And here's why: 

because today, today at least you're you and—that's enough.​“

I love this musical and I will cherish it always.

I know the sort of people who would be listening to it though, so I’m going to say that my PM’s are open and so is my ask box, if you ever want to chat.

If you need urgent care/attention, please contact lifeline or the equivalent in your country.

<3

[indiecation]

This 3-day music festival invaded the Bootleg Theater in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, January 27-29, 2017. This year, Girlschool LA teamed up with Play Like a Girl (PLAG), NastyGal, and Lyft to put together a lineup featuring all female-fronted bands including headliners Chelsea Wolfe, Deap Valley, and the Bird and the Bee along with speakers including Shirley Manson from Garbage. All of the proceeds for this $45 a pop event will go toward the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, encouraging young women to empower themselves through music.

I arrived on Friday night just in time to catch Shirley Manson’s interview with Eve Barlow in which the Garbage singer shared about sexism in the music industry and gold nuggets of wisdom including, “Women’s sexuality is the most powerful currency in the world,” so be careful who and where you show your body to.

“Women have to have each others’ backs.” –Shirley Manson, Garbage

She was also asked about the influence of celebrities in this political climate, to which she responded that change is more likely to happen at the grassroots level, and how the older she got the more she stopped trying to change people, and instead decided to be the change. 

The music began promptly at the Bar Stage at 7:30 with opening band, Kona. She got the crowd grooving to some R&B, jazz and funk sounds. With 30 minute set times, performances were over quite promptly whether we liked it or not. Moving from the Bar stage to the main Moon stage made these 30 minute transitions pretty seamless, and bands were given a small window to set up and then start performing as soon as the room starting filling in. Luna Shadows took the Moon Stage first and changed the tone to electronic, industrial pop. Vox continued with the theme back at the Bar Stage, but in a more ‘Purity Ring’ kind of tone. This solo act was both eerie and breathtaking. I had seen her perform on that very stage before, and was blown away yet again at her powerful, trembling voice. The acts switched again, this time to some ’50s inspired surf rock with the Summer Twins and then in a more punk direction with the Regrettes. Friday headliner, The Bird and the Bee really stole the show that night with ’80s-pop inspired beats reminiscent of Michael Jackson. Lead singer, Inara George had a very charming on stage presence. She was accompanied by backup singers instead of her male counterpart—or “the bee” as I’d imagine. Regardless, they performed a magical set, ending the night with a heartwarming acapella version of “How Deep is Your Love,” to which the crowd joined in.

Day 2 began with a series of speakers from 11 a.m.-3:00 p.m. who shared about topics like “Find Your Inner Fierce,” “Soundgirls 101,” “Heroina Latina” and “Music for Pictures.” The music portion began promptly at 7:30 p.m. with electro-pop duo, Trace taking the Bar Stage. Liphemra then played a kick-ass set over at the main Moon Stage that got everyone moving to front woman Liv Marsico and friends’ fierce electronic music in hip hop fashion. They performed some of the most interesting sounds I heard all night, including one of my favorites “Did U Even Cry.” Winter slowed things down with some dreamy indie rock and then the Wild Reeds livened up the crowd again with intelligently crafted folk-Americana music. Although this genre is typically not my favorite, I was blown away by these three front women who managed to make country sound intricate and interesting and who each donned a powerful set of pipes. Pearl Charles continued the Americana theme on the smaller stage, but fell flat compared to what I’d just heard from The Wild Reeds. However, no one could have prepared me for what was to come next. When “Rap-Cabaret” artist, Boyfriend, took the main stage. She transported us into a trailer park living room complete with tiger-striped chairs, live plants, and a martini and shaker. Three women came out dressed in wedding gowns and slips—the first of many costume changes—and rapped about relationships and feminism in a way that was raunchy and in-your-face. Perhaps the boldest thing I saw what the singer/rapper donning underwear and nipple tassels, singing while her assistants shaved her armpits right on stage. It was not to be missed! Things got intimate with Chilean singer Francisca Valenzuela as she belted powerful feminist ballads while hammering on her piano. The night ended with headliner, Deap Valley—a rockin’ female duo who performed furious hard rock late into the night.

Chelsea Wolfe

Chelsea Wolfe

Rituals of Mine

Ex-Sage

Caroline Smith

Kid Wave

Starcrawler

Soto Voce

Deap Valley

Francisca Valenzuela

Boyfriend

Pearl Charles

The Wild Reeds

Winter

Liphemra

Trace

The Bird and the Bee

The Regrettes

Summer Twins

vox

Luna Shadows

Kona

Shirley Manson

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was still powering through the weekend, determined to last to the very end of Chelsea Wolfe. Soto Voce opened the show on the main stage with some electro-pop. But I’ve never been more uncomfortable than I was when watching the next act, Starcrawler. Not knowing what I was in for, I mistakenly parked myself at the front of the stage. In the span of her 30 minute set, I was kicked in the back as she was carried kicking and screaming onto the stage in a hospital gown, pulled by my hair in her attempt to have the audience feel included, and eventually pushed as she took it upon herself to start her own mosh pit in the crowd. In fact, I was so concerned with getting away from crazy that I don’t event remember the music—which begs the question, when does performance art cross the line? If Starcrawler’s goal was to get in your face, their uncomfortable punk rock definitely achieved that. Let’s just say I was relieved when it was over. Kid Wave took it down a notch at the main stage, but perhaps a little too far down with some rather boring alt-rock. Themajority of the remaining acts however were quite stunning with the incredible vocals and soul-pop sounds of Caroline Smith. Ex-Sage was another uninspired hard-rock group, but Rituals of Mine and Chelsea Wolfe drove the festival right home. I rather enjoyed the attitude and powerful vocals from Rituals of Mine, a trio that performed electro and hip-hop styles. The main stage was packed for the final act of the weekend—Chelsea Wolfe, who washed us over with her doom metal and ethereal vocals. It was an incredibly powerful and badass end to the night.

All-in-all, Girlschool Weekend was not to be missed. It was filled with inspiring messages, people, and artists. With an all-new lineup this year, there was not only an opportunity to see incredibly powerful women speak and perform, but to also get familiar with genres you may not have been exposed to. Thank you for all you do for women and the community—see you again next year, Girlschool!

Here are some snaps from the weekend:

Indeication Recap: GIRLSCHOOL 2017. #Girlschool @girlschoolla This 3-day music festival invaded the Bootleg Theater in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, January 27-29, 2017.

[queenbeez-blog]

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Laura Quintana, abettor of the Dundalk Anniversary Arcade &… (Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore…)

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October 20, 2013|By Megan Brockett, For The Baltimore Sun

Amid a red-brick sea of bartering offices, alternation businesses and baby eateries, a new melancholia boutique has popped up in the main-street breadth of Dundalk, featuring assignment by bounded artisans, photographers and added vendors.

The Anniversary Arcade and Gifts Pop-Up Boutique opened Oct. 11 in the Dundalk Village arcade centermost as a affectionate of association awakening effort, birthed through a affiliation amid Blue Ocean Realty, the Dundalk Renaissance Corp. and a accumulation of breadth crafters led by bounded business buyer Laura Quintana.

The boutique operates in a amplitude donated by the acreage aggregation for three months chargeless of rent, and accuse vendors a collapsed arcade fee of $200 or $300 to accept their articles put up for auction as continued as the boutique charcoal open, with no added agency fee.

The activity aims to accommodate consumers with a array of locally produced allowance and art options for the anniversary season, according to Leah Bunck, association projects coordinator for Dundalk Renaissance. The items for sale, which ambit in amount from a few dollars to about $180, accommodate bootleg wreaths, candles, jewelry, baby clothes and art from bounded photographers.

“We appetite to accompany Capital Artery aback as a centermost for the arts,” said Quintana, who sells adornment from her online business at the shop.

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The goal, she said, is to accomplish Dundalk a destination for the arts by abating the capital artery area. She hopes the boutique will assignment to allure added bounded shops, boutiques and cafes, and draw bodies from alfresco the boondocks into the area.

The boutique provides bounded artisans with a attenuate opportunity, too.

For small-item vendors like Erin Long, the arcade buys chargeless approved acknowledgment for their merchandise.

Long works as a business coordinator at the Humane Society of Harford County and makes “scherenschnitte,” a blazon of German paper-cutting art, in her chargeless time.

She never approved affairs her ability afore the Anniversary Arcade and Gifts boutique opened in Dundalk, breadth she lives.

“Up until now, I aloof affectionate of did it for myself,” Continued said. “I’ve consistently … capital to get it out there a little bit more, and so back I heard about the pop-up boutique it aloof seemed like a fit — like … a acceptable abode to maybe try it and see how the accessible brand it.”

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Quintana, who confused to Dundalk from the Washington breadth with her bedmate about eight years ago, has run her online adornment business, Little Crystal Bijoux, for added than a year. A approved at DRC-sponsored association events, Quintana started talking to Bunck over the summer about her admiration to move her business into a absolute retail space.

But Dundalk is no arts district. Shops like the one Quintana had been envisioning are not advancing there.

Longtime Dundalk association can bethink back the town’s capital artery breadth offered a array of things to do and places to shop. Today, the alone retail-type businesses to be begin in the Dundalk Village arcade centermost are Rite Aid, Cricket Wireless and Family Dollar, which resides in the bend lot breadth the celebrated Strand cine amphitheater already stood.

“The Dundalk breadth has a acceptability that maybe isn’t accurate to what it’s absolutely like here,” Bunck said. “People … don’t necessarily apperceive that Dundalk has all these abundant bounded artists and vendors and bodies who affliction about the community.”

Bunck had heard of added communities aperture pop-up shops for 24 hours or a few days, the added archetypal time frame, usually during festivals or anniversary events. She anticipation a similar, beneath acting archetypal could assignment for Dundalk, and that Quintana would be a absolute accomplice for the project.

Bunck alleged Quintana the courage of the accumulation endeavor. The adornment maker runs the boutique Wednesday through Sunday, earning alone agency from the pieces she sells, the aforementioned as the added vendors.

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The boutique provides Quintana with a adventitious to anatomy relationships with added vendors and to analysis the amnion for axis her online business into one with a concrete space. But aloof as important to her is the adventitious that the boutique provides Dundalk.

If the activity takes off, Quintana would like to see the pop-up boutique become a biannual event, accessible about the holidays and afresh in the bounce or summer.

Others complex allotment the acceptance that the activity could alpha article with the abeyant to about-face Dundalk’s reputation. Long’s achievement is that the pop-up boutique will mark the alpha of a “rebirth” for the town.

And Bunck said she hopes it will betrayal both visitors and association to the things that already accomplish Dundalk a appropriate abode to live.

“I anticipate we absolutely accept the pieces [to] accept that affectionate of affluent art ability that maybe is already actuality and aloof needs an outlet,” she said. “I’m acquisitive that this will accompany bodies bottomward … to abutment our bounded entrepreneurs, artists and vendors, and affectionate of see, ‘Oh there’s achievement for the arcade center, and there’s achievement that this abode could absolutely be something.’”

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Movie Review - The Last Slumber Party

No, this movie isn’t about a large surgeon fighting thunder storms. That would be an awesome movie though.

Pros: One of the most nonsensical twists I have ever seen in a movie which is kind of entertaining.

Cons: Birth of a Nation was less controversial and hateful. The theme song is now burned into my brain and unfortunately the only cure is death. Terrible ending. Terrible acting. Terrible killer. The longest quest for Orange Juice I have ever seen in any form of media.

Let me start by saying that normally as a fan of questionable music taste I can listen to the most horrible of audio treats in the world and still wear a grin on my face. Vaporwave? Bring it on. That bootleg Gaslamp Killer cut? Whatever, sounds good. That rare ICP/DMX beta track that was found in an abandoned grave in small Mexican village? Let's turn it up. Still, out of everything that has poisoned my ears "LETS GO OUT TONIGHT" is by far the worst song I have ever heard in my life. 

I don't say this lightly, who ever made that song is a terrible person but also some kind of autistic savant of audio, some kind of reverse Johann Sebastian Bach who hated both music and people. Not only does this song play every three seconds in the movie, but it also seems to have the ability to drown a ton of the dialog as well which makes it even more aggravating. Nothing shows this more then the very first scene where 99% of the dialog is drowned out in a classroom, which should be the easiest fucking place in the world to capture decent audio. I could go on for pages about how atrociously bad the sound is, but it really is something that one can only experience for themselves. I have watched a ton of low quality movies that has worse recording when it came to the audio, but it was a blessing because those movies often were terrible and not hearing the actors (Or your drunk friends you paid $2 to attempt drama) was normally a good thing. The sad part was, I was actually kind of interested in The Last Slumber Party because I am pretty sure it might be one of the most 80's of all 80's slashers I have ever seen and I was trying to find out what the hell was the deal with all the plot holes and illogical scenes put into this movie.

Well, joke is on me, I watched this like five times now and while I fully understand every line due to a crack team of Chinese secrete police who transcript the movie for me, nothing still makes sense.

The movie starts with three extremely unattractive women and the three counterpart boyfriends they have talking about summer vacation, how much summer is going to rule, and how some nerd in the background named Science rules because he helped them with their biology homework.

The three most beautiful women of Louisiana!

Meet Chris, Tracy, and Linda. Here is a easy chart to describe each character.

Chris:

Red Hair

Hates people with a different sexuality then hers so much she has to comment about it about 50230 times every single day.

Loves to drink all day, wake up at 4:00 AM, then continue drinking.

Might be a meth addict in real life.

Tracy:

Blonde

Extremely boring and stupid.

For some reason needs to bring every phone into the bathroom.

Only has like 5 lines.

Linda:

Nerd.

Has a dad who is a lackluster neurosurgery doctor.

Is holding a sleepover in the ugliest house on earth.

Really wants Man-nerd bad, which is odd because they are going out already. Don't know what that is about.

For the men counterpoints, I can't remember their names but assume each are named Jock, Goof, and Man-Nerd and they all fit the same tables as above.

Class is about to end and summer vacation is right about to start (But they are all like 30?) and the girls talk about the kickin' rad slumber party they are going to have that and if they should invite boys or not. Chris says a party without sex and men is a waste, Linda kind of twiddles her thumbs and agrees while talking about her lust over Man-nerd, and Tracy tries to remember she is in a movie but fails to do so and nibbles on her hair tips while drooling. Everyone cheers when the Bell rings, the conversation continues, and everyone goes home.

Later that night at a hospital entrance, a nurse walks out complaining that no one wants to have sex with her, which is odd considering she looks like the most attractive person in this film. She goes to a bus stop and waits on a bench while some sleepy guy next to her snores. She complains and complains and complains until finally the audience is granted mercy as our killer comes out to change things up. The killer is by far, in the movie, the most lazy of all slasher killers I have ever seen and consists of some random dude wearing scrubs. That's it, he just looks like some random guy at the ER. Anyways, the killer moves a scalpel in front of her face and she dies from this somehow. Sleepy guy, despite hearing her complain nonstop, scream bloody murder, and the struggle does not wake up. He wakes up afterwards and starts complaining that the bus is taking forever. The killer, obviously annoyed at this doofus, kills sleepy guy for a double whammy.

The face of evil. Hygienic evil. Also, that's the director.

We eventually learn the killer is some kind of random guy who had a lobotomy and became evil for no reason. With part of his brain gone, he now runs around town lightly stabbing people and being a jerk at various parties. Other then that, we never get a name, motivation, or any further background on him. Hell, even in the credits they just label him "Maniac" which is the height of laziness. The only snippets we get are when Linda's dad gets various phone calls we can't hear and he can blandly reply with things like "Oh, that maniac escaped? That's too bad." and "I need to find that maniac. I think."

Now, I have seen a bunch of bad actors in my day, but I might have to say the actor playing Linda's father may be near the worst. Every line he has is read with zero emotion. He can't have any facial expression besides minor puzzlement. Also, he sounds like a robot. I'm not joking when I say that all the actors in Birdemic did a better job then this asshole.

We finally get the titular slumber party and uh... well, not much is happening.

...You guys wanna play monopoly or something?

The girls sit around in various moo-moo's and sleep jerseys while looking bored as hell doing nothing. They do have a slight dance at the start, but it's interrupted by Linda's dad who says he has to get Orange Juice, for the girls to behave, the music they are playing sucks and he then leaves the house. After being burned on the music, they sit down and watch TV where a black static image of a news logo tells them that two people were murdered at the bus stop! DUN DUN DUUAAAAA~ - But they don't care because it's not connected to them in anyway and it’s Louisiana, so people get murdered all the time.

Of course, after hearing about the horrific murders, they immediately think of romance and debate on calling "Men-folk". It's at this point in the movie where suddenly every single person has a southern accent. There was no southern accents before, but now they are in full force. Every sentence ends with "Bless ya'll hearts" and "NASCAR RULES!".

Before they can call dem' ol' boys - well, they show up. They knock on the window with dumb Halloween masks and Chris calls them gay homo's for like, a half hour before they leave to go get some beer. This is a reoccurring theme in the movie where Chris will have a discussion with one of the male counterparts and often goes into a diatribe about how they must be gay and love the idea of having men tongue every orifice they own in a hedonistic sodomy session. It's really nonsensical and so out of place, but almost 90% of her script reads like bizarre homoerotic sex fantasy the director must keep hidden.

Welcome to beautiful Louisiana!

At the gas station, the guys drink in the parking lot when Linda's dad shows up still on his holy quest for Orange Juice. They talk back and forth when Linda's dad is like "Welpp... shit, prob - no Orange juice at this gas station, I better check my work. By work, I mean, the hospital." and just leaves the set. Science, the nerd from the first scene shows up. The guys throw a beer at Science and tell him to party hard, because it's summer! Science looks slightly miffed at this friendly jest and leaves. The guys then describe in great detail who is going to have sex with who, how much summer vacation rules and about how much fun it is to drink beer. All in all, seems like normal high school talk, except you know, that they all look 30-ish.

Back at the slumber party, the girls debate still for another five fucking hours if they should call the boys. Uh - They already said they were coming back. Calm down, ladies. After talking about boys, calling boys, and if smoking pot is cool (They come to conclusion it's not while continuing to pound shots) they finally decide it's time for bed. While they are heading upstairs, one of the boys somehow ends up at the house before the rest of them, had a ladder placed against the bedroom window, and climbs up and enters the room just as the ladies enter it. They pull him inside and after an absurdly awkward conversation between Chris and him involving homosexuality, Chris pushes the girls out the room and explains she wants to get busy. Before that, though, she has to shower. Uh - Ok. She tells him to lay on the bed and in the connecting bathroom, she showers for what seems like four hours - during that time, Science comes into the bedroom and kills Jock-kid who was laying there waiting for some muskrat love. After killing him, he puts his body in the closet.

Huh.

Now you are thinking - Why would Science kill this guy? Is Science the main killer now? The answer to both of those questions are I don't know, and no. For some reason, that light joke about being more upbeat about summer vacation really set off Science, so now he has a blood lust. Whatever. They never explain or show why Science would kill the people who liked him or why he would kill them, but also do their homework for them too, but uh - arughh - my brain.

Chris comes out and in frustration that another man would accept death rather then have relations with her screams to the heavens calling Jock-man a fag and queerbait nonstop over and over before finally getting exhausted from her rant and heading back downstairs with the other girls. Science hides in the corner of the room during all this and is able to not be found. Once again, I’m not sure why Science is there or why he is filled with murderous rage, but hey, that’s horror for you.

Like poetry, Tracy finds goof kid, they go upstairs to have sex and goof kid asks if she has any drugs. Unsure if she does have drugs, Tracy goes into the bathroom to search for some while Science murders the hell out of this loser and chucks his body out the window. During this time, the real killer comes in from the ladder and watches Science doing his stuff while nodding in approval.

Just so you know, there is now two killers in this room, both have not communicated with each other and both are easily hiding in different places in the room. Only the real killer knows Science is in there. While Science does his normal hide in the closet, real killer decides he is a under the bed guy.

Tracy leaves the bedroom, calls goof kid a homo a couple of times because of his disappearance, then screams because she finds a knife the floor. All the girls meet up in the room and discuss where the knife could have came from. After a slight bickering session, they decide it's all a prank from the guys and all cuddle in bed together to go to sleep. In the same room. With the two killers. Oddly enough, the killers leave them be and continue hiding. Seriously. They sleep for like five hours and no one disturbs them. Pretty polite killers, really.

You know a film is bad when even the dude who likes FIRSTRYKE says it's bad.

Chris has a dream where she wanders around a house for like twenty minutes doing nothing while terrible synth music plays. Finally, after the most boring dream of all time, she gets stabbed by various people and wakes up. All the girls are fine, everyone is still asleep. Also, the killers might be asleep too, who knows? Anyways, Chris gets up and decides it's time to start drinking. Hitting the liquor cabinet that isn't hers, she picks up the phone right when it rings (Rude) and gets some heavy breathing. Freaked out, she runs upstairs and tells the other girls about the dreadful phone call. They both could care less. Speaking of phone calls, the conversation then cuts to them debating if they should call the boys again for the 100th time. It’s like, 5:00 AM. Jeez, calm down ladies.

Chris is like "Whatever, I'm drinking" and Linda goes with her. Tracy continues to sleep in bed where she is almost murdered by Science in her sleep, but Science is dispatched by our main killer and is thrown out the window. Haha, that's what you get for not enjoying summer vacation, NERD! Main killer then kills Tracy, stabs Linda off screen, and sits around the bedroom doing nothing. Chris continues to drink when Linda's mom gets a call waking her up from dad saying he is still getting orange juice and will be back home soon. Dude? It's been like 10 hours. This causes Linda's mom to get up and tell Chris to shut the gate outside for some reason. Chris goes outside and see's the guys car, confused why there would be a car but no boys to call gay, she goes into detective mode.

And here is where the movie hits a climax. By climax, I mean the most absurd and slow ending ever put into a horror film. Chris walks around the house looking at nothing forever. There was less walking and looking in Homeward Bound. Honestly, it’s just like ten minutes of her walking around a house inspecting various things while the killer always hides somewhat in random frames and looking as goofy as possible. After the longest walking scene in any film ever created, Chris discovers the phone lines have been cut and Tracy is dead upstairs. Chris, by far, has the best reaction to this I have ever seen as she goes “Eh” and just walks out of the the room.

Jeepers Creepers,  Fuck. Oh well, time to drink.

Now, I know it’s Louisiana and I assume it must be pretty normal there to see your best friend murdered by some kind of random violence, but it may just be a bit of bad acting when you have no emotional reaction whatsoever to seeing a corpse in a bed. Like, I get it, acting is hard or whatever, but come on, lady. Chris wanders around till she gets back downstairs and Linda's mom bumps into her. She is like “Oh, uh - I’m dead.” and just falls over holding her throat. We are supposed to assume she was stabbed and wandering around in a panic, but instead she looks kind of bored and lazily falls onto a sofa. Neat.

Linda then also taps Chris on the shoulder and says “Get help.” before also falling on the floor dead from an invisible stab wound. Why, this slumber party is terrible... in fact, I hope it’s The Last Slumber Party! Once again, despite seeing two people she knows die, Chris has no reaction whatsoever and proceeds to walk around the house some more, because twenty minutes of that wasn’t enough. Armed with a large knife, she walks and walks and walks and walks an - Whoops, in a moment of awkwardness, Chris believes she notices the killer and lunges her knife at a figure around a corner and it’s the last doppelganger boyfriend. He dies instantly and yet again Chris has no reaction to this, but instead is just like “Meh.” while leaving the knife inside of him and walking off. 

 Finally, Chris meets the killer. Who will win? They both almost have similar body counts and only one may survive. Truly, this will be an epic battle of survival as - Oh, Chris just stabs him once and he dies. Well, shoot, that was easy. After a full night of binge drinking and murder, Chris passes out next to the killer in the kitchen. Huh... so fifty minutes of walking and a 10 second battle between the killer and the final survivor? Now that is some good film making.

Finally, dad comes home and HEY - He still forgot the Orange Juice! What the hell has this idiot been doing for eleven hours? He goes inside his home and looks at everything all broke/smashed up and his phone lines cut. He rolls his eyes, goes to the fridge and drinks a tall glass of orange ju - Ugh. I just - Come on, director. After his beverage, he continues to look around, still continues to look around, and finally is like “Meh, I should go to work” and drives to work, where upon reaching work he rides the elevator up to his office where he is killed by the killer. How did the killer get up there? Who knows. Anyways, Chris wakes up in the house, steps outside towards the pool, and that Killer must have the fastest running legs on earth because he is now back at the house and attempts to kill her in the pool. Alas, with a big fuck you to the audience, Chris suddenly wakes up and it was all a dream.

Now, “It was a dream” endings are always terrible, but this one somehow continues the stride of doing things on a legendary bad scale decides not only was that not enough, but to keep pushing and somehow get the most dumb ending of all time. Chris wakes up, calls her friends and asks if they are still doing the slumber party. Blah blah blah - Chris goes to her Linda's house and the killer sneaks in, it’s like some eternal loop of bad plot holes and confusion. Scream, credits.

You can watch the whole movie on Youtube, I believe. Check it out and let me know what you think. I would normally write a conclusion, but I just can’t for movie. It’s abysmally bad but at the same time unlike most b-films it is not entertaining either. It’s some weird void of garbage that never brought joy or happiness to anyone or anything.