#in fair verona where we lay our scene etc.

[softnoirr]

“actual” dagger

the bar is on the mf ground 😫

Sometimes you're just a girl standing on a stage looking into the crowd and realising you've been dead since the beginning!!

[defeateddetectives]

something something warped funhouse mirror images that keep me up at night

[papayafiles]

i never realized how intense and historical the ferrari x mclaren rivalry was but now that i think about it doesn't that make carlando a modern-day romeo and juliet retelling? like ferraris vs mclarens, montagues vs capulets; two households (formula 1 teams) both alike in dignity, in fair verona (the formula 1 paddock) where we lay our scene... etc etc...

[vikingsong]

Making Promises to Your Readers: Tagging, AO3, and You

I had a convo in a Discord fandom server today about the concept of “making promises to your readers” and it was suggested that I consolidate my comments into a post like this, so here we go!

A very high-level summary: “Making promises to your readers” is about knowing what kind of story you’re telling, and how to introduce elements into early portions of your story in a way that lets the reader know what kind of story they’re reading. “Making promises to the reader” is shorthand for talking about setting up and/or managing their expectations. It overlaps a lot with the concept of tagging on AO3 (and, more broadly, to categorizing/summarizing on other platforms like FFN).

I learned this expression from the Writing Excuses podcast (hosted by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler; it’s a fantastic and entertaining resource for learning more about the craft of storytelling, with a particular emphasis on fantasy, sci-fi, comics, and RPGs.)

This Writing Excuses episode (~17 min) explains the concept really well:

(You can also listen to it through the Apple podcasts app—it’s under the ‘Seasons 7-10 archive’ show.)

In that episode, Howard Tayler gave the following summary:

When I'm thinking about the promise that needs to be made, the things I need to put early in the book, I always...The first thing I frame for myself is what are the awesome things that I want to write about and draw. What are the awesome moments? Now, how do I tell the reader that that thing is possible and might be coming? Without telling them exactly what's going to happen. I mean, we say promises and it's not really the same as an actual promise. ‘I promise you I will go out and buy bread’ means you're going to get bread. ‘I promise you that this is going to be an action romp and something's going to explode way bigger than this thing that just exploded’ is more like the sorts of promises that I make. I make them by making something explode. It usually is the inciting incident.

Tagging a fic—and setting the tone in the summary—is a way of making promises to your readers. They know what kind of fic they’re about to read (or not read, if they recognize from the tags that they’re not the target audience…which is better than having a reader quit halfway through when they realize it’s not what they thought they were getting themselves into).

Here are a few silly If-Shakespeare-Wrote-Fic examples I thought up during the Discord convo to illustrate this idea, specifically as it pertains to tagging:

Shakespeare made promises really overtly in the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet without saying exactly how the things would happen:

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

If Shakespeare had posted Romeo and Juliet as a fic on AO3, it might have been tagged as tragedy, romance, feud, underage (R & J are both underage teenagers and definitely sleep together in a fade-to-black), everybody dies, etc., with probably a T rating overall. It might also benefit from a trigger warning because R & J both ultimately commit suicide.

Likewise, Shakespeare wouldn’t tag King Lear or Hamlet as Angst with a Happy Ending, or Romance, or Fluff. It might not even be worth tagging Hamlet/Ophelia as a full ship, but might be worth tagging ‘Background Relationships.’ Both of those stories should have archive warnings for graphic depictions of violence, major character death(s), plus ideally tags that convey themes of existential angst, political intrigue, murder, and complex familial relationships. It might also be worth adding something about insanity/temporary insanity, which might be a plot-device trope that someone might love and seek out (or hate and avoid). That last tag could be optional, or something about faking insanity instead, depending on what the author intended (i.e., Was Hamlet just angsty and faking his insanity to others, or was he actually losing a marble or two from the sheer existential angst? Was Lear merely being melodramatic, going a bit senile, or completely losing his mind at various points?)

Also, it's probably not worth tagging Hamlet with some variation of 'briefly kidnapped by pirates' because no matter how entertaining and technically accurate that tag would be, that event is barely a footnote in the plot. If someone's looking for pirate fic, Hamlet is definitely not what they're looking for. (If they want heavily-featured pirates along with romance, soliloquies, and angst with a happy ending, they'd be better off looking for Pirates of Penzance fic instead.)

In all three of those Shakespeare-writes-fic examples, the audience/reader gets attached to characters while knowing that lots of characters will die. They know they’ll be gutted if their fav character is one of the ones who die, while also trusting that it will be a satisfying death from the reader’s/audience’s perspective.

The surprise is not that everyone dies; the how and the why and the emotional reactions those twists evoke are what the audience is there to see (and also iambic pentameter, if you’re into that sort of thing).

This is not quite the same thing as foreshadowing, which can include red herrings or subtle things that may only be apparent in retrospect. I think the Writing Excuses episode linked above does a great job of highlighting the differences, so check it out. ;)

“Making promises” through accurate and thoughtful tagging is fundamentally about setting up emotional payoff and helping your readers know if your fic will be worth their emotional investment and time based on what they’re looking for (or looking to avoid). Even a tag or A/N at the beginning saying that a WIP’s tags will be updated along the way is a constructive way of managing readers’ expectations (i.e., it lets them decide how comfortable they are with a certain level of ambiguity).

“Making promises” is also why fic summaries matter. Summaries are keyholes through which a potential reader gets a glimpse of a story: a bite-size excerpt of narration or dialogue to demonstrate tone and writing style, or perhaps a hint at important themes, or even a brief descriptive hook that highlights the inciting incident (and why it matters to the characters). The summary can mirror the tags or supplement them, but between the two, a reader should have enough info to decide if they want to click through and invest in your story.

In summary (yes, pun intended), when someone decides to read your fic, they’re trusting you with their time and emotions. The tags and summary are promises you make to them. If you make promises and keep them, your readers will be more likely to finish reading your fic—and trust you again with your next one.

[blxetsi]

modern eren jaeger dating headcanons

lowercase intended !

college!eren jaeger x gn!reader

warnings: mentions of p*rnhub

- firstly, this man is CONVINCED it was love at first sight (he ALWAYS tells you this too)

- "babe when i met you i just KNEW you were gonna be mine" "no you didnt" "yes i did- hey dont stop holding me 😣"

- you guys met because you were tutoring him. (he was failing history 😔💔)

- after weeks of shy touches and shared giggles he FINALLY brought his grade up and didnt need you anymore

- that didnt mean he didnt want you tho ;)

- asked you out on a date (and by that i mean to a party smh 🙄)

- and the rest is history 😌✨

- hes the kind of guy that flirts with you even though youre together

- "so uh,, you come here often 😏"

- "eren youre in my apartment 😐"

- he tries to invite you everywhere that he goes with his friends

- like,,, EVERYWHERE

- jean and reiner wanna organize a boys night ? hes pulling out his phone getting ready to text you and saying "oh is it okay if y/n comes ? i didnt get to see them much this week i miss them 🥺" like mf this is for The Boyz 😡😤🥶🥵🔥‼️

- youre weirdly close with sasha, shes just really cool

- eren will call you at the most inconvenient times for the stupidest reasons

- one time he called you while you were doing an INTERVIEW for work and you wanna know what he called you for ? to tell you he bought a bunch of silly string to use on jean.

- bitch im trying to get PAID. rn . trying to make a LIVING. so i dont end up below the POVERTY LINE. tell me about ur silly string after i secure the bag 🙄‼️

- is very touchy. like very touchy.

- but also respects bounderies

- hes NEVER mad when you have something to say about him or your relationship together

- you dont feel comfortable with the pda ?? He Wont do it Again

- you think you two could work on communicating better with each other ?? hes already googling ways to do that

- he cares and cherishes you and the bond you two have created together, hes not gonna try and ruin that

- is a fucking lightweight. dont go with him to parties.

- but if you asked him to hold his drink he will NOT forget about it.

- a couple times he broke the plastic cup he was gripping it so hard 🤩

- is also the type of guy to just protect others ?? like for no reason

- he sees a guy trying to get close to a girl who had made it abundantly clear that she didnt want that ?? hes going over there and playing bf to protect that stranger

- he can thank first year drama class for his superb acting skills 😌✨

- will literally help anyone he sees in a bind

- also his brother is weirdly cool ??

- his parents live far away but his brother only lives like,, 40 minutes away from the university

- hes like an older brother to everyone 🤩

- if you like reading classic literature zeke is your guy to talk to. has so many ideas and opinions on those stories and stuff, and will NOT hesitate to lend you a book of his

- eren has led lights in his room. he ALWAYS has them on the colour red

- he doesnt understand why ppl think hes horny bc of the red lights ?? his eyes just adjust better to the red lights compared to the blue 😔

- he has stretch marks all over his body 🤩 like on his biceps, tummy, back, thighs, etc. etc. doesnt really think about them anymore but he used to be SO self conscious of them in highschool. he saw berty (bertholdt) with his shirt off once during his freshman year and saw how he had stretch marks too, and immediately thought they were cool

- he likes to play with your hair and scratch your scalp, but he likes it when you braid his hair because he thinks it makes him look pretty

- will get you weird things because they remind him of you

- one time he came to pick you up for your date and before you could even KISS HIM hes pushing you away and pulling out a tiny ceramic frog 😐

- "no you dont understand zeke took me to a thrift store today and i found this and it reminded me of you-" "i look like a frog to you ? is that what youre saying ?" "NO ! its just so cute, and youre so cute so i had to get it. do you like it 😊"

- doesnt like most meats, his only exceptions are chicken,

- thats it 😐

- you guys were having a picnic and you made sandwichs (with the sliced turkey meat) and he took one bite out of it, looked you in your face, and spit it back into the baggy without breaking eye contact

- likes just laying in bed with you. has a playlist of songs like arctic monkeys and shit like that, just sitting in the dark with a song on low volume, whispering whatever he wants into your ear is like,, the DEFINITION of love in his book

- also can and will recite lines from shakespeare plays to you ?? will be at the most randomest times. you could be sweeping and he'd just wrap his arms around you before whispering "two households, both alike in dignity. in fair verona where we lay our scene. from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."

- okay mf this isnt english class 😐‼️ but thank you 😁👍

- will always try and do new tiktok trends and make funny videos so he can "blow up"

- he gets on average like 20 views 🤩

- he likes seeing you and his friends get along, it just makes him so happy that you love mikasa and armin just as much as he does, and hes so thankful that youre all friends

- likes to help you reach whatever you cant, and if youre taller (even by an inch) hes making you grab things for him

- he doesnt have a major yet, and he doesnt really know what he wants to do with his life, but being a hairstylist sounds cool

- whenever youre having a bad day mentally, he'll just give you your space unless you say otherwise

- he doesnt know if its the best idea, but he knows when he gets into a bad headspace he wants to be alone

- if you do say you want him with you, he'll lie right beside you in bed and spoon you, and if you want he'll put on the arctic monkeys playlist and whisper about the project he worked on for his business class

- he doesnt like sharing, BUT will steal your shit all the time 🙄

- "oh hey heres that thing i borrowed from you" "oh my fucking god eren i thought i lost that months ago"

- may not understand everything he learns in class, but he always tries bc this is his education !! his parents saved up a lot of money for him to be able to go to university !! hes gonna try his best to make the most of this

- i feel like he would play baseball at university. he asks that u wear his jersey to every game so "everyone knows that the most beautiful person attending this educational establishment is MINE" like,, k ill wear the jersey 🙄🤚

- has a list of the best websites to use to illegally stream movies, anime etc.

NSFW ! -------

- also hates pornhub. knows about all the controversies and shit about the website and doesnt use it. supports smaller porn companies that respect their workers 😁👍

- his parents love you. Im Serious

- carla asks about you all the time (hey mommy 😏) and his dad wonders about you too even though hes more lowkey about it

- always has to open the door for you or pull out your chair for you. no matter what setting youre in he Has to do it bc hes a gentleman

- bohemian rhapsody is his comfort film

- i think eren thinks that Youre the One for him, and this idea is solidified when you two graduate together 😍

- he takes you back to the library where he first met you, gives you a promise ring and just asks you to move in with him, hes not ready for an engagement and he knows you arent either, but he knows that youre it for him, and he just wants to be with you for as long as youll allow it

GAH this felt all over the place and very mediocre but i hope you enjoyed !!! remember asks are open so feel free to request something 🤩

[candyredterezii]

From fair Verona where we lay our scene, star crossed lovers from house "tiddies bounce, bounce, bounce" and house "I want a hentai gurl for me" etc etc etc

poIKAJZHSJoaiksjdhfjdsoldkifjOAIKDJFDSODKIFJ

[readwithjoy]

I don’t care about spoilers

Yes, I realize this is a controversial attitude. And often people are surprised when I say this as most of my life, both personal and professional, is devoted to stories in one form or another.  

However--knowing what happens in a story not only does not ruin it for me, it often lets me enjoy it more.  I am a re-reader and re-watcher. I read my favorite books over and over. I watch my favorite movies and TV shows over and over. Even when I can recite every word of certain movies and know every outcome (The Princess Bride, The Empire Strikes Back, Clue, What’s Up Doc, etc. etc.) I still love to watch them. And yes, I’ve been known to read the last page a novel first. I still love reading the book. 

It’s nice to know that there is some science to back me up...

Do Spoilers Actually Ruin Stories?

It’s good enough for Shakespeare, you know.  As mentioned in the video, the Prologue for Romeo and Juliet totally spoils the story.  It’s still pretty good! 

ACT I

PROLOGUE

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

That said--I do respect people who care about spoilers.  Just because it doesn’t matter to me at all if I know what happens in a story, that doesn’t mean that someone else doesn’t care deeply.  I’m not going to spoil their experience. That’s just a jerk move, and no one should be a jerk. 

[jbrentonparker]

Plotting Method #1: The Freytag Pyramid

Now that I’m over a particularly nasty, week-long cold, I’m going to jump into breaking down the plotting methods I briefly covered in an earlier post! Here’s the quick overview I gave of the first method:

The Freytag Pyramid:

Developed by German novelist and playwright Gustav Freytag, the pyramid was really developed to map out the story structure of five act Greek and Shakespearean dramas, but it can often be modified and applied to short stories and novels as well.

In Freytag’s pyramid, there are five parts (acts) to a narrative:

Exposition, in which the background of characters and events that occurred prior to the plot are given; Rising Action, which is the series of events that lead up towards the greatest point of interest, or the turning point in the narrative; Climax, which isn’t the same as what other people refer to as the “climax” of a story–Freytag means the turning point that changes the protagonist’s fate; Falling Action, when the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist comes to a head (what is actually usually called the “climax” in novel writing); And Denouement, all the stuff after the Falling Action to the very last scene, in which the narrative is wrapped up for better or for worse.

As mentioned above, Gustav Freytag developed this story structure map specifically in relation to Greek and Shakespearean plays. With a little bit of tweaking though, it can be used to structure prose as well.

Exposition: In Shakespeare plays, this literally comes in the form of exposition in which the background for the play is stated outright to the audience. “In fair Verona where we lay our scene...” etc etc. In a novel, this would be the first chapter of Harry Potter (again, I’m going to frequently use Harry Potter as my example, since most people are at least familiar with the story). In chapter 1, “The Boy Who Lived”, the audience is given the background. Takes place in England in modern times. Strange things which are revealed to be of a magical nature at the end of the chapter are not common, or commonly known about. Wizards are a thing, but they hide from the non-magical world. Harry Potter is special, but he will not know that for many years. We learn the setting, and the state of “normal” within the bounds of the narrative is established. This is important!

Even if you are reading the most wild, out-there fantasy or scifi story ever, the reader has to know what is considered normal in the context of your world before things can start going crazy, otherwise it’s easy to lose their attention along the way. That being said, the establishment of normalcy can be quick. I’ll reference Artemis Fowl, since it’s another fairly popular middle grade book many people have read. The first book starts off in Ho Chi Minh city--bam, we know it’s set on earth. There is a cafe, Artemis and Butler are wearing suits, they drive a hummer. We know it’s set in modern day.  It is explained that Artemis is searching for something, and he worries this may be another failed attempt. We know that whatever is going on isn’t common or usual. We meet the fairy, and it is established that this is not an everyday occurance, and that Artemis’s knowledge of them as a human is singular.

So the fantasy aspect of the plot is introduced very early on, but even so, we are given a very clear concept of what the normal state of things is in these books: fairies exist, but humans do not know about them. Therefore, Artemis knowing about them is unusual, special, and worth writing a book about.

So exposition and establishing the state of “normal” in the context of your novel often go hand in hand. Neither usually last more than a chapter or two however; you don’t want to leave your readers waiting for the “good stuff” for too long.

The Rising Action: All the stuff leading up to your main character taking action, or being forced to take action, or what have you. In Hamlet, this would be all of Hamlet’s whinging about what to do, whether to take revenge or not. In Neverwhere, this would be the bits where Richard is just “along for the ride”, just trying to get his life back while staying as minimally involved in Door’s actual drama as possible.In this part, the protagonist is usually trying to avoid the conflict, or keep it from happening.

Climax: The climax in Freytags’s pyramid is very different than “the climax of a novel”! They are two totally different creatures. I like to think of Freytag’s Climax as “The Point of No Return”. This is the moment the protagonist must face the conflict for better or for worse. This is a major turning point in the story, and there is no going back to the way things were after this moment. In Romeo and Juliet, this is when Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished. Things can never be resolved peacefully now, he has slain a member of Juliet’s family, he is banished, they are now physically as well as socially separated, the rift between their two families is bigger than ever, worst has come to worst (or so they all think at the time). Often during the Climax/Point of No Return, things have gone very wrong. The protagonist is forced into action because there is no other alternative. The can no longer avoid or prevent or flee or peacefully deal with the conflict, they must face is head on like a freight train barreling down upon them. Then comes the:

Denouement: the way the characters deal with the fallout of the climax. Juliet gets her hands on some poison and sends Romeo a letter--which he never gets. Hamet stages a play “wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”. Now this is the part where Freytag’s model as it applies to plays does no align so well with prose. In Freytag’s model, who more substages follow: Catastrophe, and the Moment of Last Suspense. Catastrophe is Romeo believing he finds Juliet dead, and killing himself, and then Juliet awakens and kills herself as well. In the Moment of Last Suspense, the two families come together and see how their behavior has led to two such bitter deaths, and finally let bygones be bygones. In Prose, however, you have the Climax instead of Catastrophe (though your climax could be a catastrophe, but it doesn’t have to be obviously).

The conflict comes to a head, the protagonist and the antagonist often clash especially in fantasy, tensions are as high as possible, the stakes are as high as possible, and the protagonist must deal with the conflict and deal with it now. In a narrative without a human antagonist, this would be, say, the scene where the protagonist gets trapped in an avalanche but claws their way out of the snow and drags themselves, half-frozen, to the side of the road where they collapse, only to be found (alive? dead?) hours later by a passing hiker. In Monsters Inc, it’s pretty much the entire last twenty minutes of the movie.

Then, hopefully, if you’re a kind writer, you end with your wrap up, your own Moment of Last Suspense--which usually isn’t really all that suspenseful, but the same concept applies. Tensions are released, loose ends are tied up, questions are answered, and we have a sense of how the conflict was resolved. You could, of course, end your story with your character half-frozen on the side of the road after an avalanche for dramatic reasons, but most readers like to see the “after” bit of the “happily (or not so happily) ever after”. I know I once read a trilogy that I otherwise adored, but the ending killed me--it just ended immediately after the villain was defeated, with the characters standing of the edge of a cliff, hundreds of miles from home, after a harrowing, month-long journey to get there in the first place. As a reader, I wanted to see the characters I loved get back home safely as much as I wanted to see the antagonist defeated, so that ending disturbed me a little. An excellent example of a satisfying wrap up, in my opinion at least, is Neverwhere. I won’t go into it because I’d hate to spoil it for those who have not yet read it, but I think it is fantastically satisfying.

I believe that more or less covers the aspects of the Freytag model and how it can be applied to prose. Stay tuned for the next detailed overview, the Three Act Structure!

[jeffssteel]

Romance Main Characters as “THE” Antagonists

Fictional stories need an antagonist that stands in the way of the hero and/or heroine in reaching their goal(s). A quick sloppy breakdown of possible fictional antagonists are as follows:

THE VILLAIN: these are the Vladermort/Joker characters out there. They might have reasons somewhat might agree with (such as Thanos wanting to reduce the universe population in order to reduce suffering).

THE ALLY: this is the ally who disagrees with the hero about the right goal, or the right way to reach a shared goal. Boromir In Lord of the Rings and the Captain America/Iron Man duo in Marvel’s “Civil War” are good examples.

INTERFERING AUTHORITY FIGURE: This could be the parent antagonist to the child, or the government agency against the hero. The “Hunger Games” has this, as does the movie “Ordinary People” in regards to the mother.

FORCE OF NATURE: This could be a beast (“Jaws”) or the environment (“Old Man and the Sea”) ... or both (“Sharknado”).

THE INTERNAL STRUGGLE: This is something internal to the hero - such as drug addict - but also includes persons dealing with things like emotional guilt such as the son from “Ordinary People.”

———————————

Any story of any length has MULTIPLE antagonists - e.g., something or someone coming between the hero and his/her goal.

“Princess Bride”

Villain(s): Prince Humperdinck, etc.

Ally: could have been more, but Princess Buttercup and Weston had some kinks to work out

Force of Nature: Rodents of Unusual Size; Shrieking Eels; etc.

Internal Struggle: Princess Buttercup’s anguish over marriage to the Prince vs. is the stable boy still alive.

DMD:

Villain: Lucas; Rachel

Ally: Elena

Interfering Authority Figure: society; father’s original job

Internal Struggle: D’s shyness and insecurity; father’s temper and fear; Elena’s commitment to a relationship

Melody:

Villain: Steve

Interfering Authority Figure: Melody’s stepfather

Internal Struggle: Melody’s issues with her mother, her stepfather, and her becoming a performer; MC’s struggle between career and a healthy home life

——————————

In a Romance, the two main romantic characters are almost always (in some degree) antagonists of the other. (Anyone married knows their own spouse is an antagonist in their relationship - unless it is a totally one-sided and controlled marriage).

In fact, the two main characters themselves could run the scope the five antagonist examples above:

Villain: the two characters start off as direct head-to-head antagonists (e.g., male owns big-box book store that threatens to put small bookstore out of business owned by the female lead - “You’ve Got Mail” movie)

Ally: the main part of most any romance where the two disagree about goals, and/or disagree about how to get to those goals.

Interfering Authority Figure: most common in romance would be the parents (in “Romeo and Juliet” it was more their families as a whole: “Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.” The “couple” antagonism then comes from how each deals with the other parents and how they want the other to deal with the parents.

Force of Nature: how many romances have a problem with pregnancy or a difficult pregnancy? How many then cause strife between the romantic couple?

Internal Struggle: imo the most common internal struggles come from their own antagonism as allies - and then how they internalize that conflict and try to change their individual ways.

———————————

Key note (imo) is in most romances, the key antagonist is not a villain - but rather it is the couple CONFLICT AS ALLIES and their INTERNAL STRUGGLES. I believe the great romantic comedies thrive off those two areas — and when there are external antagonists, those antagonists really help EXACERBATE the Ally/Internal struggles rather than being a plot driving antagonist on their own.

[softnoirr]

If the foreshadowing is what I think it is involving christen leaving t in the end for Paris,,, I will cry. A lot.

in fair verona where we lay our scene etc, etc.

[parabellum-rpg-archive]

Congratulations, Isa! You’ve been accepted to play Priya Sinclair. Your request to change her FC to Eleanor Tomlinson, has also been accepted. Please make your page and send it in within 24 hours.

Admin note: Isa, I’m so excited you auditioned for Priya and I loved your details for her, I agree with the vibe that Priya is very warm. I look forward to seeing you develop her even more! - Admin J

IC INFORMATION —

CHARACTER DESIRED

Priya Sinclair

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER IN YOUR OWN WORDS

When I read her biography, I saw this young woman who has a mind older than her years, a smile that lights up and is as warm as a child’s, expressive eyes, eloquently strung phrases leave her lips like a warm breeze and a heart that is tender and feels more than she may let on. Priya is an individual who knows the importance and the power that comes from the public’s perception of her and her family. Perhaps in another life she would be a highly acclaimed publicist or PR for a major corporation. Like Rumpelstiltskin, she can spin wheat into gold. She turned perception and image is a tool into her greatest strength.

While she is strong (her work ethic, business knowledge, brains, cunning, etc) there is a vulnerability to her that she has buried deep down under Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford perfume, succulent lips, bright eyes, fine jewelry and clothes. Priya’s strained relationship with her mother is one that cuts deeper than most but she has learned to bury the initial pain and use it to push herself into the family business and focus on what she is good at rather than what her mother disapproves of. Priya has this memory from when she was a little girl that lingers in the back of her mind and resurfaces when she hears her mother’s disapproving tone, whether that tone is directed at her or someone else. When Priya was little she had more exuberance for life. She would feverishly talk with her hands that her father would joke that they in themselves were their own person. The best way to describe the former movement of her hands is like that of a conductor’s, they guided the music that flowed through her.  Her movements can be frantic, graceful, slow, and sharp. It is a masterpiece in itself when her hands take on a life of their own. She use to try and convey what she felt and saw. Those fluid hand movements became a nuisance to her mother who had once believed Priya would be in every way her shadow. Penelope grew tired of the way Priya’s eyes lit up and her voice rang as clear as the church bells. Penelope would grab her daughter’s wrists and tell her that such wild actions have no place in their home. Moving hands should only be reserved for a puppet, not a Sinclair. Her mother would hold on to her hands until her eyes either watered or Priya nodded in agreement. She had to, for so long, keep her hands clasped together in her lap when she sat, in front of her as she stood or behind her back that she often wondered if they would ever have life in them again. Her hands never fully regained the life they once had. Like her temper, her excitement became restrained. While one was natural and part of her disposition the other was forced and practiced. While her sisters were born in their mother’s image, she was molding a part of herself to fit into some part of her mother’s world, no matter how small that part was.

Passions: learning languages / different countries cultures /  the study of acting (what techniques to actors learn to change how they hold themselves, how they change the inflections and tone of their voice/movements/embody roles/etc) / theatre. Theatre and Priya upon initial analysis of her biography may not seem like the two would go hand in hand but when you think about how her natural disposition is too keep her temper low, have a level head, access a situation, read a room and watch others it makes sense. As an actor you need to know or at least have an understanding of the inner workings of how a certain posture can change a performance. How a slight change of tone or inflection changes the meaning of what you are saying. I truly believe Priya is someone who admires the craft and would try to learn from it and even tried out for a school production. She is no Peter O’Toole, Kenneth Branaugh or Dame Judi Dench but she connects with it.

Known for: Her confidence, her walk (long strides, perfect posture, confident steps and eyes always forward), red hair, her disposition.

traits: resourceful, confident, driven, enigmatic, charisma, intelligent, adaptability, clever

Quotes that resonate with Priya:

“if you raised your voice - you’ve already lost the argument."– anonymous

"i will never change myself to be easier for someone to deal with."– anonymous

"she’s dangerous because she knows what she wants. she knows what she wants, and even better, she’s not intimated by these desires. she is not reckless with words, nor feelings. she’s dangerous because she’s in control.” — adriannesolida

Aesthetic: Deep red lips,  fresh brewed coffee, monochromatic colors, locks of hair that remind you of a copper penny with the face facing up, it is warm and it tumbles over her shoulders like rusty water.  

She is a woman. She is a human. She is someone who never backs down from the challenges that life throws at her. She is the type of person who removes the figurative pieces of the puzzle from her own story. She doesn’t want someone to finish her puzzle and claim they finally conquered her. She wants to finish her own story. She the little girl who grew up dreaming to become a storm rather than a damsel. She is the woman who puts more backing in I trust you than I love you. If you have her trust you have her for all eternity. If you have her love it can fade like bruises and change like the wind. If you have her heart you have her protection and unconditional love; it means you are connected in a deeper way than any I love you. She is a question never to be answered. She is Priya Sinclair.. She is the one who chooses to be not what someone deems her to be.

WRITING SAMPLE

She has thought of it, the wedding. The day her sister joins in happy, no, civil matrimony with the Castello boy. Shakespeare said it best, “Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.” Two crossed starred lovers without the lovers part would be joined at the altar, bringing together a union far greater than that of fair Juliet and her Romeo. Her mind recounts the Shakesperian work, it is crudges, deaths, love and deceit. She maps it out in her mind and makes the conclusion how her family and the Castellos are different than the Capulets and Montagues. There will be a public I do.

When will her sister and the Castello boy know when their lives are going to change? Is it like in the stories sung by the dimming light of the fire? When the music becomes more somber or joyous it means the hero’s path has changed. Was it just that simple? One beat everything is one way and the next it is not? When she was a child she stared up at the man and woman and believed that one day she could have such a fate. She would find a man and everything would turn out with a happy ending. She’d have a husband, a home, and children of her own. What more could she possibly want? That is what everyone told her and her sisters she would have. Drilled it into her thoughts before she could say her first word. She’s beautiful. She’ll catch the eye of many. Her beauty will give her a happy life.

Such a narrow minded way of thinking that many had unfortunately believed. Once upon a time she may have believed that such things were true that when she found a man and love she thought that marriage would happen and then a child. Turns out the love did not mean marriage and a child could be conceived before I do. The man never had to stay. Love, like the seasons, change.  Those idyllic views are still on her mind now as she sits in solace. She pictures her family, her little sister, standing at the altar with the Castellos to her right.

In the church, she makes her sign of the cross as she faces the altar and says a silent prayer to the Virgin Mary. Pray for happiness, my sister. Pray for a treaty. Pray that your family remains. Everyone tells her to pray, but her lips just make the movements. She never really committed to such things anymore. Once beauty meant marriage and marriage meant love and love meant happiness. Now it all meant cease fire. A reconciliation. An ending.

[arisefairsun]

As someone who's heard that Romeo + Juliet (dir. Baz Luhrmann) was the "most accurate to the screenplay, technically" but also that it wasn't as accurate as it could be, plus all the other pro/con arguments abt it that float around, I was hoping you could tell me why you dislike it? Thank you!

So, I decided to watch the movie again before answering your message (that’s mainly why I took so long to reply! I’m sorry) because the last time I watched it was like five years ago, and I actually loved it this time around? I’ve been fangirling the whole night.

I agree that Luhrmann did a fantastic job in ‘translating’ the society of Shakespeare’s Verona into the contemporary world. The misogyny, the cult of violence and masculinity—all these aspects were brilliantly shown by Luhrmann. Besides, the rhythm of the movie is marvelous. All the scenes are governed by this impulsive, erratic speed. It gives you no time to think; you get carried away by its rash haste. The crazy speed of the play is one of my favorite things because it’s like, a huge emotional rollercoaster.

Still, I’m uncomfortable with the way Luhrmann filmed Romeo and Juliet’s first conversation—Juliet literally has to step back to prevent Romeo’s mouth from touching hers right when he says, “have not saints lips and holy palmers too?”. It looks so self-assertive, it makes me cringe. They’re literally creating a sonnet together, it should be beautiful and not creepy. And then there’s this new scene where we see Romeo arrive at Juliet’s bedroom on their wedding night, which I think is nonsense. I talked about it here.

Another part that I found disappointing was the portrayal of Romeo’s despair when he receives the news of his banishment in the friar’s cell. He should be “on the ground, with his own tears made drunk”, “taking the measure of an unmade grave.” He is so desperate and anxious that he even attempts to kill himself just to destroy his Montague self. However, Leo is too serene. I can’t help comparing his acting with Leonard Whiting’s portrayal, who was cut out most of the lines in this scene but who managed to accurately show Romeo’s anxiety nonetheless. Another thing I’m not sure I like entirely is the “balcony” scene. In the original play, Juliet is locked inside her window and therefore they cannot touch, let alone make out in a pool. I find it very significant that they don’t even touch in the longest, probably deepest conversation they have, but I felt like Luhrmann over-sexualized the scene unnecessarily. And then, as usual, they didn’t make Tybalt come back after Mercutio’s death. It’s quite an important little detail—both the fact that Tybalt came back to Romeo and that Romeo only suggested revenge after Tybalt’s return. (Tybalt would never run away from a fight? He is too arrogant to do so.)

The death scene is most likely what I dislike the most, though. To begin with, I think the scenery, pretty though it is, isn’t really appropriate—it should be dark, scary, the way a “nest of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep” should be, only lightened by Juliet’s beauty and not by pretty candles all around (“Her beauty makes / This vault a feasting presence full of light”). The place should correspond to Juliet’s fears:

Shall I not, then, be stifled in the vault,To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?Or, if I live, is it not very like,The horrible conceit of death and night,Together with the terror of the place—As in a vault, an ancient receptacle,Where, for these many hundred years, the bonesOf all my buried ancestors are packed:Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth,Lies festering in his shroud; where, as they say,At some hours in the night spirits resort—Alack, alack, is it not like that I,So early waking, what with loathsome smells,And shrieks like mandrakes’ torn out of the earth,That living mortals, hearing them, run mad.

It should be that terrifying. And, most importantly, it should specifically be Capulet’s crypt rather than some random church. Basically because by poisoning himself in the vault of his wife’s family, Romeo is destroying the patriarchal system (as well as reinforcing again his rejection of his own surname and the whole feud; he chooses to “set up” his “everlasting rest” in Capulet’s tomb rather than in that of Montague).

I find it very symbolic that they both die alone, surrounded by Tybalt’s and Paris’ corpses—the two men who thwarted their love the most—; I actually think it’s very significant to make them die separately. It reinforces the repressive isolation that they both experimented throughout the play. If you think about it, we not only witness the evolution of their love but also their evolution as individuals. We get to see how their relationship alters their social identities (i.e. Romeo’s willingness to love Tybalt, Juliet’s sexual liberty, etc.), and when their society rejects these new identities, they tragically decide to commit suicide. (More on this here.) I think they not only kill themselves for each other, but also for themselves, and this is something that’s highlighted by the fact that they die alone.

Besides, having Juliet wake before Romeo’s death kind of blurs the Liebestod trope—that is, death is not truly dividing them, but finally bringing them together. They kill themselves because they cannot be together in life, ergo Romeo promises he “will still stay with thee” because death will turn him into Juliet’s husband again. (There are actually lots of references to wedding rituals in this scene.) So when he says “thus with a kiss I die” (“die” meaning both to lose your life and to have an orgasm) he is not really saying farewell. He is kissing her right before dying to “seal with a righteous kiss / A dateless bargain to engrossing death”. However, in the Luhrmann version, Romeo dies thinking that death will separate him from Juliet, and so his last kiss is not a “dateless bargain” but a goodbye. (Overall his death lacks something if Juliet wakes in time. This awesome lesbian version also made Romeo die after Juliet’s awakening, but neither Luhrmann nor the lesbian production dared add new lines and he just stays speechless until he dies and I find it very weak? If Romeo saw Juliet live again, he would surely say something. If Shakespeare had wanted Juliet to wake before his death, he would have written it like that, but he didn’t. I feel like Luhrmann is changing the meaning of the scene just to increase the dramatic effects of it.)

I also think it’s highly important to make Friar Lawrence enter the scene between Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths—he gives Juliet a very suitable option in terms of religion:

Come, I’ll dispose of theeAmong a sisterhood of holy nuns:Stay not to question, for the watch is coming.

Juliet is breaking the rules again by refusing to hide at a convent and spend the rest of her life devoting herself to God and mourning her dead husband. She prefers to commit suicide. But what’s even more irritating about Luhrmann’s version is that Juliet doesn’t say a word after Romeo’s death, which weakens the character a lot. Their conversation ends with Romeo’s “thus with a kiss I die”. It’s a pity, because her last words are really potent, especially considering that daggers were seen as a masculine form of suicide (whereas poison was often attributed to women. My kids love burning down gender roles): “O happy dagger! This is thy sheath: / There rust and let me die” (with another pun on “to have an orgasm”). By introducing Romeo’s dagger into herself she’s again claiming her right to be sexually active. This metaphor is weakened by making her use a gun instead (AND BY CUTTING OUT HER DEATH SPEECH LIKE!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!).

Another thing that I wish were included in the movie is Capulet and Montague’s reconciliation. I find it vital for the message that the play wants to transmit. After all the violence, the prejudice, the social oppression, Romeo and Juliet’s death puts an end to the war between both households (I say households and not families). The patriarchs admit the wrong they did, and it’s just so satisfying to hear them apologize. I think this is kind of the whole purpose of the play—I would dare say this last conversation is the reason the whole story was told in the first place. The prologue focuses on the households’ violence, and it actually mentions Romeo and Juliet to express that their death ceased the violence:

Two households, both alike in dignity,In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDoth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

However, in Luhrmann’s version, Capulet and Montague only stand side by side without saying a word while the Prince reprehends them, leaving up in the air whether or not they will take their children’s advice and replace hate with love.

But apart from that, I actually did enjoy it!

[marierosaurus]

Story time! Today: My trip to Italy in 2013.

I made the trip with my old class as some sort of ‘graduation journey’. The bus ride itself was awesome and funny. The drive was very long ( I think about 8 hours) but the landscape was beautiful.

@michelmcfly​ / @chellum​ used to say:”Oh my gosh, look! How romantic!”, all the time. We also droe through a tunnel that was long af. I thought we’ll never see the light again. Rip.

We stayed at a campsite (San Benedetto) in nice little bungalows right next to the lake Garda, which I shared with @michelmcfly​ / @chellum​ , @kiraeh97​  and another friend of ours (ok back then we weren’t friends at all but we got along and she wasn’t around most of the time anyway).

(I have no idea what’s wrong with @michelmcfly​ / @chellum​ in this picture.) I shared a room with @michelmcfly​ / @chellum​  (of cause) and we had way too much fun as soon as the bedroom door closed (not ambiguous at all ;) ). We laughed about the light dimmer, made shadow plays, looked at the photos from each day and zommed in only too laugh about random people in the background and not to forget I twerked for her and she just said:”You‘re not Miley Cyrus.”. I’m sure there were even more crazy things we did but these are the best ones I can remember. Our window (it’s the one she’s standing in front of on the picture) was also perfect for stalking everyone who came by. Like I said the bungalow was quite nice, but we had some problems with ants (we bought a trap for them) and needed one day to figure out that we need to turn on the heater (which was in the main room) as soon as we can and leave the other doors to our rooms open so they can also warm up ( we were there at in autumn and at night is was cold af).

On our first real day we checked out locations in the neughbourhood ( Peschiera and Sirmione) which showed us the typical italian architecture and the lake garda in day light and we tasted out first italian ice cream.

We walked up a little hill and took a funny ‘street train’ back down and waved and screamed at all people we’re passing. Crazy tourists. The funniest thing was when one of our teachers said:”I’ve got a suprise for you!”, and everyone thought that we’re going to get ice cream or something like that and then we walked to a train station and her daugther came out of a train. She invited her daugther to stay with us. Ok….but why is that a suprise for us? We never saw her before and maybe ever heard of her existence. Like…wtf. Tbh everyone was quite pissed. :’D We ate dinner at the campsite and they had little fishs as snaks which I thought was disgusting because you could still see their little eyes and stuff but two of my friends tried them as a test of courage. Disgusting.

The next day was my personal highlight because we visited Venice which was really really beautiful. We took a ferry to get there and were able to discover the city by ourselfs for some hours.

Besides exploring Venice and shopping souvenirs we used our free time to eat a real italian pizza and another italian ice cream (as if these were the only to things too eat in whole Italy. lol.). Our group had this thing that one classmate started. We were shouting around the word “Whop!” all the time which was handy if you searched the others. You just needed to shout “Whop!” and if you got an answer you knew they weren’t far. It became a real insider on this trip.

In the evening the campsite made a ‘disco’ for kids but it was really boring so we went back to our bungalows and had the best prank idea. We hided in the bungalow of our friends, turned the light of etc. and pranked @michelmcfly / @chellum who came later because….idk where she was (?). It was really hard to stay quite but her reaction was to funny even if our prank was just stupid. :’D We even repeated this ‘prank’a couple of times. Another funny thing was, when we had a huge moth in our friends bungalow and all of us ran for their lifes. One of our boys who saw us running out of the bungalow asked what we’re doing and we told him about the moth (he was a very muscular / strong guy). He took a look inside the bungalow and ran our screaming. My kind of aesthetics. But the ‘best’ thing was when one of our classmates were drugged. we didn’t know how it happened but he was stoned af. Another classmate took him for a walk to calm down and when they came back he started to tell that they saw a HUGE beaver. It was funny but from todays perspective it could have been very dangerous. He was responsible for too many funny things that evening and I bet that I only remember half of it.

We also went to Verona ( the City of Rome and Juliet) on our next day. It’s a really cute city (but the highlight was probably the Disney Store).

Thank’s to my english teacher in highschool I am able to say the beginning of Romeo and Juliet by heart now: “Two households both alike in dignity ; In fair Verona where we lay our scene ; From acient grudge break to new mutiny ; Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean…” There’s that bitch’s balcony:

Ok, it was quite romantic and cute back then, but now that I read the drama for english class I can’t see or hear anything from Romeo and Juliet ever again. I’m done with Shakespeare. In the evening we went to buy a cake for @kiraeh97 because her birthday was at the next day and gave it to her right after midnight. In between we had a dinner with the whole group at which we gave our teachers shirts with the italian flag and our insider ("Whop!").

Our last day was pretty much driving on a boat over the lake garda the whole day… Of cause we made breakes to check out two towns (they were really beautiful but we’re just so tired). Of cause we needed to eat another ice cream in one of the towns.

In the evening we finally arrived ot the habour where our bus waited and after another pizza we were able to ride home.

Later we got to know that our bus driver was really bad and didn’t made his mandatory breakes or switched drivers (because you need to do that on a drive as long as this one). Our teachers told us that they were really feared. In the end we got some money back!