#musical theater but less boring

[raeynbowboi]

HOW TO PLAY AS THE BELCHERS IN DND 5E

Today, we're going to explore how to build the Belchers as a DnD Party. Plus Teddy. We're not really going to touch on stats. Let's be honest, the Belchers aren't really great at anything. If we were building them accurately, they'd all be super low level and/or with terrible stats. But it's your character and your campaign, so you can make them more or less optimized as you see fit. They're also all basic Humans, so we're pretty much just focusing on their classes and subclasses.

BOB BELCHER

PALADIN OATH OF DEVOTION

Bob is largely defined by his principles and values. As Tina puts it, Bob is a good business owner, but a bad businessman. He cares more about providing a quality service and succeeding his way than making money. And in Little Hard Dad, he's shown to say "It's the principle of it" way too often. This to me reads as a Paladin. Given his belief in quality service and moral principles, I label him as an Oath of Devotion Paladin.

VARIANT BUILD

FIGHTER SAMURAI ARCHETYPE

Bob is pretty boring and straightforward, which makes Fighter really fitting for his personality. If he was going to model himself after anyone, he'd choose Shinji Kojima/Hawk. Thus, the Samurai archetype. However, if we're leaning purely into the boring practicality and straightforwardness of Bob, I might suggest Champion instead. It's the most Fighter-y Fighter you can build.

Regardless of his class, make sure to pick up proficiency with Cook's Utensils or the Chef Feat.

LINDA BELCHER

BARD COLLEGE OF DANCE

Telling Linda Belcher not to sing or dance is like telling Tina not to talk about horses or telling Bob not to cook. It's just not going to happen. She loves the theater, she sings all the time, and she was once in an amateur garage band. All the makings of a classic bard. Given her love of dancing, I went with the College of Dance.

TINA BELCHER

CLERIC LIFE DOMAIN

Tina is the family member who puts the most stock in things like fate, true love, karma, and damnation. She is also one of the characters that mentions religion more than anyone else. More specifically, she strikes me as a Cleric of Sune, the Faerunian Goddess of Love and Beauty. Sune's virtues include following your heart wherever it leads, championing love and romance at all costs, taking any risk in pursuit of love, being true to your heart and your passions without shame, and trying to make the world a more beautiful place. As such, Tina is the perfect candidate for a Cleric of Sune. Sune has two domains: Life and Light. Given that Tina has at least some interest in nursing, the Life Domain seems more in-line with Tina's values as a follower of Sune.

GENE BELCHER

SORCERER WILD MAGIC ORIGIN

I know, I know. It's a sin that he's not a Bard. But Gene and Linda are very similar characters, and both work as Bards. The best thing for a party is diversity. So, I looked at Gene's personality beyond just his music. And the core of Gene is whacky nonsense. Usually, when Gene tells stories, it's an excuse for weird imagery. The Banana-fullo, Fart School, radioactive pizza sauce. Thus, the Wild Magic origin for Sorcerers spoke to me. Gene loves whacky randomness, so he would be drawn to Wild Magic. Plus, he's not really a good bard. He hates practicing, he's unfamiliar with the concept of a workbook, and kind of just expects a music career to be handed to him. Hell, when he got cast in a play and had all of two lines, he didn't memorize them, and wanted to ad lib every take. Gene's a sorcerer with the Entertainer background, but he is NOT a bard. He doesn't take his craft seriously the way Linda does.

LOUISE BELCHER

ROGUE ASSASSIN ARCHETYPE

One of Louise's main skills is her ability to pick locks. Bob is literally afraid to go into her room as he expects boobie traps to hurt him. She's a clever tactician, masterminding several heists and revenge schemes. She's good at tricking people and lying to their faces to get what she wants. As for why she's an assassin, in the episode where Louise is uncertain of her future, one vignette paints as a John Wick style Wedgie-Sassin. She's also a fan of Francine, a Special Girl doll that spied on the Russians during the Cold War. She's not typically a fan of girly things, but she does like the one that's a spy. She's definitely the family member who would be the outlaw punk of the group.

RANGER GLOOMSTALKER CONCLAVE

In more recent seasons, we've seen a newfound interest in archery, with Louise even making a zombie movie centered around her blossoming hobby. The Gloomstalker/Assassin multiclass is also a very good multiclass in combat, which is why I felt it was the most fitting for Louise. She's also pretty accurate with other ranged combat like spitballs and throwing things at people.

TEDDY THE HANDYMAN

ARTIFICER BATTLE SMITH

This one pretty much goes without saying. He's a mechanic and handyman, he's used to moving and hauling heavy objects, plus he's burly, making him a great fit for the party's tank. The Battle Smith is an artificer built for the front line, and they get to be joined by a mechanical ally. Teddy would absolutely take a hit for any of the Belchers. The guy also fell off a roof and walked it off, so he's definitely got the highest Constitution score of the group.

I think this party turned out alright. Bob and Teddy are on the frontlines, Linda and Tina are the primary support, Gene is a ball of pure chaos and uncontrolled energy, and Louise is sniping people from the shadows. Everyone's doing what they should be doing to work as a unit, and also happen to be a fairly well-balanced party as well. This is an especially good party for low stakes and silly campaigns, but probably not the kind of party you want to bring to Barovia or Avernus.

[fangirlynjunk]

You know I think I want to like put into words my interpretation of TGWDLM as its stands and after the Hatchetverse has had way more content because I'm sure if I saw it stand alone and not AFTER I'd seen Nerdy Prudes I'd have a different feeling, and I saw someone's post that got me thinking

I think for whatever reason Pokotho took an interest in Paul, maybe because of CCRP, maybe he was one of the many born with the gift. I wouldn't be surprised if Paul is actually so averse to musicals because some part of his soul knows and fears Pokotho and therefore fears musicals because they feel/look like a hivemind to him.

So Pokotho took everything Paul knew away slowly. His job, where he spent most of his time. Beanie's, the place he visited every day to see Emma. Charlotte, one of his friends, Alice the kid he used to babysit, his best friend Bill, his new ally MacNamara, then Ted. All of Hatchetfield, the place Paul always loved despite it's flaws.

But not Emma, Pokotho let Paul keep Emma to let him have false hope maybe. Or maybe because somehow Paul was keeping her safe, but either way Emma survived. And I think maybe that was just a cruel way to both lord over how he won in the end to Emma (and Paul, if Paul was still in there), or as a sort of reference to when Emma asked Paul if she was the villain of his life. (and he very tenderly said 'I don't think your a villian Emma' and my heart swelled and I sincerely believe that made Emma fall in love with him because she was always the bad kid and here was Paul breaking that expectation just like how Pete always affirms to Steph that she's smarter then she thinks she is you see what I'm saying?)

Emma wasn't the villain to Paul's life, but she was to Pokotho's plans. I'm still VERY sure if Emma and Paul had the time to develop their relationship in TGWDLM that they could have saved each other, at least. I doubt a happy ending would happen, but they could have at least defeat Pokotho temporarily.

Paul always saw the good in Hatchetfield, something the Lords in Black hate.

I also find it interesting that Prof Hidgens COULD easily be a Pokotho minion but Pokotho only ever seems kind of interested in using him? Like, he was ready and willing so fast in TGWDLM but Pokotho couldn't care less. And in Workin' Boys (assuming the lighting was a clue) I really just think Pokotho took offense to the reworked script or was bored and happens to like hanging out at the theater because... well its Pokotho.

[beegomess]

Dark Paradise | Theodore Nott

Don't forget to read the previous chapters here

Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated 🫶🏼

04. Swan Lake

They were still children when they played in the huge garden of the Malfoy Mansion, Y/N saw them from the window of one of the large halls of the house. She was jealous, her brother, Draco, seemed to have fun with his friends running through the corridors of the huge maze of bushes. While she took classes of all kinds: violin, piano, ballet, French, Italian and so many other classes. Ballet was beautiful, but it was the worst, the most demanding. She waited for the private teacher to arrive while watching them, the sneakers already well tied while she warmed up with the help of the bar and looked at them with sadness.

Now, a few years later, she was in the same place, but without the sadness, without any of those boys to feel jealous of and, of course, without her teacher too demanding for a simple child. Dancing made her calmer, and after last night's incident, Y/N used the first excuse to return home, even without her brother. She would return in a few days, of course, her classes were not over yet. However, she didn't want to risk facing Nott at that moment, much less the looks of Pansy and Mattheo.

The large room now seemed small, even though I kept a dance routine during the holidays, I felt the nostalgia of being there. Another Y/N saw herself in the mirror now, older and with less silly problems going through her head, she smiled as she remembered the various fights she had had with Draco when he insisted on not letting her play with her friends, who today were almost made men, and that now, one of them was the most recurrent in her restless mind.

Classical music plays smoothly filling the whole room. He remembers all the commands of his demanding teacher. Posture, arms in a delicate and precise movement, legs in the same way, the scapulas opened and closed like wings, the tips of the sneaker roared when peaking the floor with the movements. Accelerated breathing, but always perfectly controlled. And moving towards the end, the music slowed down and the movements became less and less agitated.

- I miss you so much at home. - Narcisa watched her majestically, as always. She had a smile and a proud look at her daughter, who smiled in response.

- How did I do? - The search for Y/N approval transpires a little while untying the sneakers on a bench.

- Perfect as always, my love. - The woman smiles - You and Draco should spend more weekends at home. This place seems so empty without you. - Narcisa approaches her daughter and watches her closely still with affection.

- We miss you too. - Narcisa realizes the lack of mention to her husband and looks at her with a disguised disapproval. - What? Our father is always at Hogwarts thanks to Draco's behavior. - They laugh

- You're not totally wrong, of course. - The older one sits next to her - Look, your father and I had plans for tonight. Let's go to a theater with some friends, you should come with us.

- I don't know, I know how dad doesn't like to have us among his business, I don't want to get in the way. - Y/N felt insecure about talking about his own father and that made Narcisa's heart squeeze.

- No way, dear. He was the one who asked me to call you. - She takes the girl's hand and smiles - Come with us. You have no idea how bored I am with Mrs. Berkshire. - Narcisa confesses and makes the girl laugh.

- All right. - She agrees. - Wow, I think I haven't seen them in years. - Y/N comments and they continue the conversation as they walk down the hallway to Y/N's room.

[...]

Y/N went down the stairs in his black scarpin, with a dress of the same color, he had a light neckline and the straps were dropped on his shoulders delicately. The dress went up to the height of his ankles, leaving his feet on display, the skirt quite round and structured, while the bust and torso were pressed in the right measure by the top of the dress. On his lap, a delicate shiny necklace decorated his skin, his hair was in the same hairstyle as the ball of the previous day, a clutch in his hands and his apparent skin was covered by a shawl of the same color and fabric as the dress.

- She is more and more like her mother. - Lúcios looked at her with pride at the foot of the stairs accompanied by his wife.

- I'm happy about that, thank you. - Y/N responds timidly, demonstrations of affection were not your father's strength.

And in a few seconds they set up in the entrance hall of the theater, Y/N observes the number of wizards present there, at all times she needed to stop and greet someone who greeted her father. Now I understood your mother for being easily bored. And in a few more steps, they stop again, Y/N hoped to greet and follow, as she had done in the last 15 minutes when she was shown by her parents as in a shop window. That wasn't a very youthful place and when she saw a boy approach his parents, just as she was slightly surprised, she didn't think she would be the only one her age, but she didn't expect to find someone so quickly. While her parents greeted each other and the other couple admired her and said how she had grown up, she notices the boy's gaze on her by her peripheral look.

- Honey, I imagine you must still remember Lorenzo. - Your mother starts. - You, Draco and Lorenzo were very stuck together as a child, remember? - Y/N looked at the boy in front of you and then his memory rescued Lorenzo from the bottom of his childhood memories.

- Oh, of course. As I could forget, I'm sorry. - Y/N said smiling and extending his hand to the boy and opened a breathtaking smile and promptly held her hand, leaving a light kiss on top of it.

- It's really been a long time, everything is fine! - He said kind.

Well, Lorenzo was certainly no longer that annoying brat who took his dolls and hid them. And even at that time Y/N already had a crush on the boy who, secretly, felt the same. However, now he was grown up and very handsome for sure. Well, actually, beautiful would be the ideal adjective for him. The 11-year-old Y/N suffered a lot when she found out that Lorenzo, affectionately nicknamed Enzo, had not been selected for Hogwarts like her and Draco, but for some other of which she did not even remember so much frustration she had felt at the time.

- I didn't know you had aged so much to come to events like this. - Y/N jokes after making sure that none of the adults there would hear.

- For your information, my mother forced me after your mother asked me to come and keep you company. - Enzo says convinced while laughing, Y/N unleashes in a shock and shame for his mother's cunning. - Can I? - The parents of both begin to move and Enzo offers his arm to Y/N and intertwines it with hers.

- I can't believe she did that. - She said still in disbelief, making the boy laugh slightly. The youngest walked behind their parents through long corridors of accents and stairs, that place seemed to have no end.

- Lucky for you that I came home a little earlier, if I wouldn't be alone in this terrible place. - He jokes approaching her, who in turn laughs again. - Although I wouldn't have been a problem having unmarked any plan I had today to see you. - He pauses and Y/N looks at him, a little amazed at his tranquility in confessing here to her. The girl gives a half smile in gratitude. - It's been a long time since we've seen each other, Y/N, and you really look very beautiful, even more than before. - Enzo said this a little more serious now, and Y/N could swear that he would have stopped walking on time if it wasn't for him taking his arm.

Before she could answer, her parents called her from the stairs that went up to the higher cabins with a privileged view of the stage. She sat next to Lorenzo, which made her slightly nervous, and she didn't know why. Her hand was supported, she hit her fingers lightly against the old wood of the arm of the chair to the rhythm of the music she used to dance to, when suddenly, Lorenzo caught her.

Y/N hook his breath for a moment and didn't look at him, both ignoring the touch of his hands. Y/N felt nervous about Lorenzo's touch and dramatic music, but for a second she closed her eyes, trying to get Theodore out of her mind. For some reason, all that turned her mind like a whirlwind of memories that suffocated her, it was as if with every breath she gave the scene of him touching her body came back with all his strength, her skin shivered just remembering Theodore's mouth on her lips and neck.

That really looked like torture. By Merlin, how she would like to be with him now.

She couldn't stand it, and asked permission to go to the toilet, there she wet a towel and positioned it on the back of her neck and then went through her neck, lap and arms. Y/N stared at herself in the mirror for a moment and began to realize that something was happening in her heart, she had never been like this for anyone before. The girl decided to ignore this at the moment, pull herself together and return to her seat. She was relieved that Lorenzo didn't try to take her hand anymore.

- I hope to see you soon, Y/N. - Enzo said goodbye in the same way he greeted her and Y/N just nodded with a light smile.

[...]

- I only stopped by to say good night. - Narcisa was passing through the half-open door of Y/N's room. The girl was already lying down just reading a book. - I'll miss you, dear, it was so little time. - And it really was, Y/N would go back to school the next day very early.

- Don't worry, mom, Draco and I will be back soon. - The girl puts the book on the bedside table and smiles at the older one.

- We didn't even have time to talk. - Narcisa sits on the edge of Y/N's bed. - I saw the way Lorenzo looked at you today. - She had a silly smile on her lips. - He seems to like you, he looks at you with so much adoration.

- Mom! By Merlin, he's almost a stranger to me now. - The girl says indignant, but laughing.

- A stranger who held his hand all the time, I saw it myself. - Y/N can't help but roll his eyes in response.

- I don't want to talk about it now, mom.

- All right. - The woman answers in surrender. - So, who took you to the dance yesterday? - Y/N stiffens with the question, and your mother notices.

- Theodore. - She answers simply, hoping that Narcisa will not prolong the subject.

- Nott? - Y/N nods - I didn't know you liked him. - she said getting out of bed.

- We're just good friends, that's all. - All right, maybe that was exaggerated.

- Oh, yes, I see. - Your mother smiles with false innocence and leans over to kiss the girl's forehead - Good night, dear.

- Good evening, mom. - The woman closes the bedroom door with a light smile, I already understand everything.

Y/N, however, seemed even more confusing...

____________________________________

xoxo, bee✨🫶🏼 next chapter>>>

[monkey-network]

The Beauty of 12 Angry Men

I remembered in 6th grade lit reading Franz Kafka's The Trial, a story about everything judicial being set in stone for someone completely out of the loop. The bureaucracy behind Josef K.'s fate is never given a cause, no method helps him, and after a year he's at the mercy of a situation nobody said would be fair to him. It was a striking story to me, and lead me into recognizing Sidney Lumet and Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men as a similar yet antithetical story. The film keeps everything in the dark except for the titular jurors trying to piece the case together for a boy expected to get the death penalty. The matter though, is that the defendant's fate was clear from the start and the journey is about getting to that thread's end. What follows is one of the most well written, performed, and staged movies I watched in my entire life and I just wanted to finally talk about it. So, let's talk.

Setting the Stage

It takes three minutes almost exactly for the title to appear. You get the mission statement from the judge, a good scan of the main characters, and a single moment of the defendant's face, basically the only time you ever get to see said defendant for the whole movie. After that, we the audience are locked in the deliberation room where the film starts to shine after the credits role.

For the longest time watching movies, I was so used to big colorful settings, the characters going places even if it's just another place to talk, where it's a gamble if you can memorize those places. Oppenheimer last year became the widely regarded movie that consisted of next to nothing but conferencing in rooms. Even in older movies, things were never shot in the same spot for long. This film was the first instance where they stripped everything and worked with bare bones staging. All it is are the men in that one room. No flashbacks, no cuts to anything beyond the group speaking. The only other places you get are the adjacent men's restroom and the courthouse steps at the film's very end, scenes of which add to less than 4 minutes. And you would think it gets boring, but 'focus' is the keyword behind everything. The fact there's next to no music adds to it having an actually engaging script that doesn't manipulate or go to unnecessary places to get the point across.

12 Angry Men is what I'd call a "dynamic stage play" where you could imagine yourself seeing this in a live theater, but it wouldn't have worked as well without the secret main character that is the camera. This film knows how to prevent things from getting too static; the cinematography is... well-paced in laments terms. Again, in that one room, you're engaged in where it's focused, how it moves with the characters, when it cuts especially when it closes in on the jurors at their most serious. From a technical perspective, it's immersive at its simplest. No juror feels left out even when out of frame and nothing distracts you from the brilliant acting everyone brings to the literal table. After seeing this, I felt like this was the kind of movie I'd want to make. One that can work with so little but feel as tightly coordinated as any other similar to this. Then again, I wouldn't have concerned about this movie on technicalities alone. Let's get to the story.

The Stakes of Uncertainty

The trial is a first degree murder charge where if unanimously found guilty, the defendant would be sentenced to the electric chair. Everything surrounding this film hinges on the one person who votes not guilty, juror 8. Number Eight makes it clear that his vote is not about bias, there's never a hint at him or anyone having a relation to the defendant outside the case. His vote is the biggest gamble dependent of everyone retracing their steps of the details surrounding the trial, and what I love most about this is the fairness.

Eight doesn't know if the boy's not guilty, he never forces anybody to side with him, but recognizes that the defendant's life is a serious matter and shouldn't be as open shut as everyone else makes it in the beginning. The film shows within reason that the trial wasn't as clean cut as it seemed. And I know the movie isn't judicially accurate and everything's circumstantial, assumptive, and so on. If there's any real issue the film has for me is that they never indict Eight for sneaking in the switchblade even though that scene is still a goddamn show stealer.

Henry Fonda excellently portrayed a man who knew how to play the cards right

Then again, the increased flimsiness of the trial made with the uncertainty of the outcome is the point. We never get the sentencing after the men leave that room, it's all about Eight showing the others that the boy's life deserved more deliberation than the others were willing to give him. Hell, it discusses that trials like this can and have existed where measures of the outcome are made beyond the defendant's control. Breaking through the easy decision every other juror had was more valuable, and Juror 8 did that responsibly while never trying to be above anyone. That in turn is what makes this ensemble cast nearly flawless.

The Angry Men

Before ever seeing it, I've seen a couple jokes of this movie's premise of how it was nothing but said 12 men who sure were angry. Having now seen it myself, it's amazing how much we get to know about the jurors yet only two are ever given names. You'd think the film would give them simple archetypes and gimmicks, but even if you disregarded the acting chops everyone brings, the writing was able to balance who they each are relative to the case and each other. You can memorize which juror is which yet that never makes them just a number on the table.

To me, the best part about this film is how the group is able to collectively debate about the trial with individual motives and understandings. Jurors Eight and Three are the focal characters, they're the most opposing, but I don't consider them the main characters. A Youtube video I watched explores this better than I ever could, but everyone is in this together, regardless of how present they are in the movie and you notice this in their behavior. The character writing made with the simple staging does so much while explaining so little.

Juror Four, who reveals himself to be a stock broker, is the most clinical about the details. He does his best in retracing the trial as factual as possible, discussing the evidence in a way not even Eight is able to fight. What makes him crack though is when it came to jurors Eight, Five, and Nine bringing up certain conditions of the defendant and witnesses that he didn't care to notice. Juror Nine is the opposite, concerning about the witnesses' conditions and probable influences which helped reveal factual doubts in their testimonies.

Juror Seven from the getgo is made the most detached of the group. By the way he's dressed, constantly checking the time, while capable of paying attention Seven is the most dismissive of the case for the simple reason of just wanting to leave for baseball. This is where he comes into conflict with jurors Two and Eleven especially. Eleven is expressively respectful toward the judicial due process, mentioning himself being an immigrant, which makes him eventually fed up with Seven's disinterest. He's not somebody who changed his vote easily nor adds a lot to the debate himself, but recognizes Eight's efforts of a fair discussion and naturally confronts Seven about his constant snide attitude towards the case.

One of the film's strongest moments, where the build up was genuine even if you felt it was unexpected

Everyone makes sense with is established about them in the beginning and I could go on about the little things. Juror Nine, being the first to switch his vote, is the only one who meets with Eight outside in the film's end. You can tell by Juror Twelve fiddling with his glasses and concerned of having the info laid out sequentially is the most flippant about his vote. Juror Five being more likely to change his vote out of sympathy, having grown up and is more knowledgeable of the slums given that's the defendant's home. Nothing about this movie or ensemble is complicated, but the through-line behind everyone's choices in this gets to be more complex than realized. Everything about this is encapsulated in my favorite scene of the whole movie.

Pulling It All Back

Juror Ten is the most openly bigoted of the ensemble. From the start he is racially motivated in his vote, but that's not expressed until a little later. Of that point, he's certain of himself like juror Three about the vote being clear while scoffing at Eight's opposition. When the cracks of the case start to show, Ten's arrogance starts to show and his words become charged. He becomes the most hostile toward everyone and especially gets a rise out of Juror Five when talking about "these people". Everything comes to ahead when the vote is 9 to 3 for not guilty. Ten finally has his outburst, his racial rant unspecified but striking all the checkmarks of a man that stuck in his ways. Then it happens.

Everyone put up with his remarks up to that point, but here they finally step away and we get the most striking moment of a man finally alone with his thoughts. After Juror Four tells him off, Ten goes to the corner desk and basically shuts down for the remainder of the movie. This was the film's strongest payoff in every sense. It wouldn't have worked without the buildup just as much as the civility that came with everyone involved. Nobody had to throw a punch or challenge his beliefs, you never know if this changed Ten as a person, all that matters was that Ten knew he exasperated any goodwill from the jury and finally checked out the conversation. 12 Angry Men knew how to make the characters see their errors naturally, never feeling like they played up the drama for everyone to get their moment.

Conclusion

To me, I'm reminded of when in 6th grade, my literature teacher would have these Socratic seminars discussing the books we'd read. You could say it was the most involved I was in that class. This film knew how to capture that feeling, how towrite a roundtable where the stakes are high from the start but doesn't make it sanctimonious. Again, Juror Eight doesn't force or manipulate the others to see things his way. They try to convince him initially, adding up to a tangled but mutual engagement and it always feels like you're with them in the moment. You feel Eight's uncertainty is as sincere as his conviction, the same going for everyone else involved. The fact they're all sitting in sequential, helping you naturally follow who is who, is the cherry on top.

Before watching this, I didn't presume much beyond a simple courtroom drama which I enjoy ever since Ace Attorney. What followed after was just being more than impressed by how concise and thoughtful this was made. No second felt wasted, no detail felt trivial, ALL THIS and not even mentioning it being like a "bottle episode". Believe me, this post is long enough fanboying about a film from the 50s. It earned being the most ergonomic and engaging movies I've ever seen. If this essay wasn't enough, I recommend it at least once in your life as it's free to watch. What else is there to say?

It's the Best

[unaesthetic-writer]

HEYYYY THIS IS PT. 2 TO THE JEGULUS BALLET AU FIC HOPE U ENJOY THIS TOOOO @ashshmee

Sirius and I are still waiting in the hall of the theater by the time the whole place is almost empty. It's quiet and serene, but it does nothing to quell the excitement coursing through my veins. I'm actually going to get to meet him. The picture of him on stage still lingers in my mind. It was as if until now I was living in a universe without stars, and I can't fathom how I've survived until now. Sirius is still staring at me like I'll combust at any given moment, worried and scared at the same time. "So... You wanna tell me why you want to see my little brother so badly James?" I freeze slightly, my mind racing a million times a minute—even more than it usually does— trying to figure out a coherent way to describe this to his older brother of all people. "I- I just thought he was really good. He danced beautifully." That wasn't a complete lie, but the way Regulus danced... I couldn't truly do it any justice with any words I knew. Beautiful didn't cut it; And neither did spectacular, amazing, graceful, or even surreal.

When Regulus comes out, he is just as graceful as on stage. The poise he has, the way he carries himself, commands respect and awe. But he looked completely different to how he was on stage somehow. He still has this quietness to his steps that speak so loud somehow, and it just keeps your attention on him. But differently, he now seems more sad, like a part of him was left on the stage. He hides it well, but there's less of a shine in his eyes than there was on stage that wasn't just performance. And through all of this, he still manages to look scarily similar to his brother, yet still so different. His black hair and his eyes both match his brother's, but where Sirius' features came off more roguish and angular, Regulus was less rugged and slightly softer. That wasn't to say he didn't have the same pointyness all Black's seemed to possess, whether in personality or looks, he was just more... Ethereal. As if a dream. Sirius walks up to Regulus, pulling him into a hug and whispering into his ear, making Regulus raise his eyes to stare at me. A small smirk dances on his lips and I feel like I might faint. The breath I had been taking in was gone. He quite literally breathtaking. Not knowing what to do, I try to feign some type of confidence and strut over to Regulus. "You were wonderful in the show. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm James Potter." I try not to stumble over my words as I talk to him as if he's not some godly incarnate. His words are just as melodical as he is, "Regulus A. Black. Thank you very much for convincing my brother to come see me. He's always hated ballet—too boring he says." Regulus chuckles the slightest bit, and it takes everything in me to stay grounded. "You make me sound like a child Reggie." Sirius huffs, fake pouting at his brother. "I won't make you sound like one when you start not acting like one," Regulus replies unfazed. The two brothers go back and forth for a bit longer, but I can't contain the one thought that's been running through my head.

"Will you dance in one of our music videos?" I ask Regulus, taking one small step closer to him, basking in his radiance.

Regulus raises an eyebrow. "I'm a classically trained dancer, Potter, not your random street dancer. So while thank you for the offer, I don't dance to the type of music you create.* His rejection is just as poised and swift as he is.

I nod, knowing that this answer was a possibility. "I'll make a song you can dance to then. Something worthy of someone of your training and caliber." Sirius stares at me incredulously, in shock of what I've just asked. Regulus shakes his head once more. "I find it hard to believe that you could. You do realize that my type of music is a complete and utter inverse from what you usually make? So once again, no I cannot I'm afraid." Challenge rises in my chest at this moment. I need him to dance in our video, and the song I make would be just for him. Especially for him, made with only him and his dance in mind. Regulus turns to go back to talking go his brother when I declare,

"I'll do it. I'll prove it to you I can create a song just for you to dance to, only for you. And if I do, please be in our video."

Regulus with no hesitation puts on a devilish smirk and counters, "I'd like to see you try, Potter."

AAAAAAND THAT'S PART 2 FOLKS, PT.3 WILL COME VERY SOON(sorry I have to keep splitting them up 🙏🙏😭 plz be patient with meeee)

[artiststarme]

...You Make Lemonade

A little snippet based on a comment made by @straight4joekeery in my "When Life Gives You Lemons..." post. "Women are like lemons, I love lemons!" I loved it so much, I had no choice but to write an entire fic about it!

~*~*~*~

Everyone knew that Eddie Munson was a weird kid. He had long hair, listened to music that was more screaming than singing, and never bent to fit any mold. So why would he conform to society’s boring sayings when he could make his own? Ever since he was a kid, he’s had a habit of constructing his own phrases and idioms. 

Sometimes it would be something close enough to the original idiom that no one would call him out on it. The phrase, “I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it” has become a common one amongst the boys of Hellfire. He used to say “he’d kill for less” but that seemed a little too brash in light of what occurred over Spring Break what with his murder accusation and innocent teens dying.  

Nevertheless, some of Eddie’s more outlandish sayings had worked their way into everyday speech for the Party. It wasn’t uncommon to hear one of the kids talking about the “devil kicking their kidneys” during physical exertion or mentioning how “neutral, and not even chaotically” people were when they bored them (a reference to Eddie’s least favorite moral alignment in D&D). However, the sayings always seemed stranger coming out of Lucas’ or even Dustin’s mouths than they did Eddie’s. 

The point is, everyone that has ever met Eddie knows that he can say some pretty off-the-wall things. However, Steve had never been privy to the sayings with Eddie’s odd twists until a random weekday afternoon spent getting high in his trailer. It all started because the weather was getting warmer. Eddie was supplying the weed so Steve brought refreshments for the both of them to enjoy. 

“Do you want some lemonade?” He asked him, his hands already passing him a bottle. 

Eddie nodded. “Well, you know what I always say. Men are like lemonade and I like lemonade.”

Then he took the bottle and a long gulp. 

Steve paused for a moment and just stared at Eddie. Was this a big coming out like it had been with Robin in the movie theater bathroom? What had Robin told him to say in this situation?

“Um, thank you for telling me. I’m honored that you trusted me enough to divulge that information about yourself and I accept you.”

Eddie turned to him with barely concealed panic in his eyes but that quickly turned to mirth upon hearing Steve’s reply. “That was the most rehearsed and scripted response I’ve ever heard. How’d you learn that, did you see it in a PSA?”

“No! Ro- my friend told me that’s what sh-they wished someone had said to he-them,” Steve stumbled. Holy shit, he almost outed Robin. That’s like the worst thing you can do to a friend!

Eddie looked at him fondly. “That’s adorable, Stevie. Also, I know about Robin.”

“What?! How do you know about Robin?”

“Birds of a feather, Steve. They flock together,” he commented wisely and took another drag of their shared joint. 

“Oh, that makes sense. That’s probably why I’m friends with you guys. You know, because I’m bi.” 

Immediately, Eddie’s eyes went wide and he took a sharp inhale which caused him to cough uncontrollably. Once his breathing started to return to normal, he choked, “bi?”

Steve nodded sagely, “yeah, bi. As in bisexual. That’s what you call it when you like both guys and girls.”

“I got that,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes dramatically. “Just you? You’re the straightest person I’ve ever met.”

“Hey, don’t insult me! Just because I still like girls doesn’t minimize my attraction to guys. I’m going to tell Robin that you-”

“No, no, no! I’m not judging you, I’m just surprised. But uh, thank you for telling me.” Eddie leaned over the space between them and gave Steve’s shoulder an awkward pat. 

“Okay, what the hell was that?” Steve asked him in the bitchiest tone he could muster. “Give me a hug like a normal person.”

Eddie gave a long-suffering sigh but the grin on his face showed his jest. “If you wanted to get your hands on me, you should’ve just said so.” 

When Wayne walked in on his nephew and Steve Harrington making out on his couch just a few hours later, he couldn’t even say he was surprised. Scarred forever and washing his eyes out with soap? Yes. But not surprised.

Permanent tag list:@doubleb11 @nburkhardt @zerokrox-blog @newtstabber @i-less-than-three-you @carlyv @pyrohonk @straight4joekeery @trippypancakes @conversesweetheart @estrellami-1 @suddenlyinlove @yikes-a-bee @swimmingbirdrunningrock @perseus-notjackson @anaibis @merricatty @maya-custodios-dionach @grtwdsmwhr @manda-panda-monium @lumoschild

[freddiemercurylegendabovelegends]

Today, on 8th February, 1976 - Queen Story!

New York, NY, USA, Beacon Theater

'A Night At The Opera Tour'

🔸Freddie Mercury was taking tea on the 47th floor of his New York hotel. In his suite. The Royal suite, of course. It was the morning after yet another triumph for Queen - that brilliant and highly original British rock band built around the outrageous ideas and stage presence of the exotic Mr.

Mercury. They had played their fourth concert in as many nights at the battered but fashionable Beacon Theatre, and wvith an album and a single in the American charts, they were riding high.

Warm tea was permitted to slide down Mr. Mercury's regal throat as he prodded gingerly at some nasty looking bruises on the side of his neck.

He explained, My very promising pop career nearly came to an untimely end last night. Two young girls outside the theatre decided to claim my scarf as a souvenir. They quite forgot that it was wrapped around my neck at the time, and they very nearly strangled me. I'm sure Her Majesty doesn't have to put up with this sort of thing. But then, she doesn't have anything in the charts at the moment does she?"

He is a wicked man, Mr. Mercury.

He is also everything that a rock idol is supposed to be, and New York has been quick to recognise this. Like Mick Jagger, Freddie has off-beat good looks. Jagger has those pneumatic lips, and Freddie has the most out- spoken set of teeth ever to have found their way on to a pop fan's wall. He also enjoys the lifestyle of a true superstar - he lives out our fantasies for us far more effectively than we could ever manage to do for our- selves. Even if we had his kind of money.

His dress sense is sensational. He seldom looks less than spectacular, and he is not the sort of chap who believes in going unnoticed. Satin is his favourite fabric, with silk coming a close second. And he loves those loose, floppy, Japanese-style jackets.

But as he is quick to point out, There is a quiet side to me too, you know.

My home life is very civilised, and I hardly ever dress up to watch the tele- vision. Unless I am watching a Royal occasion of course. Then, my dear, it's on with the tiara and the emine ..

the LOT!

But Freddie felt there were better things to do in the city of New York than sit around sipping tea and discussing sartorial matters. He in- vited photographer Terry 0ʻNeill and me to join him on a shopping expedition, and it seemed a reason- able idea. Freddie was his casual self in short fur coat, white satin slacks, white clogs and silver snake bracelet.

The problems we encountered were little ones. Like young girls sobbing softly outside the door of a shoe shop while Freddie sought some- thing for the regal feet inside. And then there was the confusion of the young lady in Bloomingdale's depart- ment store who began to give Freddie a free manicure, only to discover that the nails on his left hand were already painted with black lacquer.

Freddie said, I love America. But l cant imagine ever coming here to live.

Our music is successful over here because it is so distinctively English.

We must keep it that way. I have just bought a new house in London, and an enormous car that looks like a boat on wheels. I could never leave all that.

And I have far too much fun ever to worry about a silly little thing like tax.

I know l'm terribly extravagant.

I always have been. My life these days is one perpetual spending spree. So I suppose l am the sort of person who needs to find ways of reducing tax.

But it's all such a bore. Why don't you buy a pair of these beautiful glitter shoes? They 're outrageous. And they 're cheap. And they re much more interesting than tax, don't you think?

I did think so. But I decided against buying the lurid footwear. You have to be a star to wear shoes like that.

Somebody rather like Freddie Mercury, in fact.

[glitchedphantom]

Making a fun "Magne High" Au for Hazbin Hotel, starring more modern day teen human versions of the Hazbin characters, with a Magical Boy/Girl twist that involves the demon forms. Of course, since he's my favorite character, I created Alastor first (sketches, will not be the comic quality).

The colors of his clothes in his human design are heavily referenced from how canon Alastor looks when he's in a musical number combined with a less saturated set of reds underneath to contrast with the strong colors. I also added a few of the symbols that show up. His schoolbag is a radio, could not pass it up. I also added a small radio and music symbols design on his shoes.

As for his demon/magical boy form, nothing changed, aside from the fact that he's a teenager in this AU.

Facts about Alastor in this AU:

-He is a theater kid. He lives for the drama, and he will gossip with Rosie.

-His childhood friend is Mimzy (to go along with the canon where they were friends when alive), though they are not as close anymore due to Mimzy's tendencies.

-Jambalaya is still his favorite meal, along with most forms of venison

-Still likes black coffee

-He hates Vox, who won't leave him alone

-He has an A average regardless of not paying much attention in class

-Doodles when bored

-Can be a bit of a prankster, but gets away with it due to his "poised nature" in front of adults

-Has insomnia, so he reads books while listening to the radio or a few podcasts

-Has a podcast of his own, it does pretty well.

-Doesn't like to be touched

-Will crossdress on occasion, usually while being petty

-His "sunglasses" are actually just purple tinted glasses.

-The vision in his left eye improves in his demon form, but his right eye stays the same

-Has a deer tail in his demon form

-Is aroace (as per cannon)

-Parents are divorced, and Alastor lives with his mom

[verosikastrikerstellaexcuser]

It would be so nice to know more about Stella and her daily life! She seems to care about royal duties a lot more than Stolass who uses their heirloom for prostitution. He behaves more like a rebellious teenager than even Via does. Throwing banquets and maintaining good relations with the rest of the aristocracy may seem boring or petty but is actually a hugely important part of being a member of monarchy.

The fact she is friends with some of her peers and stolas only socialises with imps who he can boss around or succubi he can take advantage of and command, says quite a lot about these two people. I know it’s meant to show how “not like other royals” stolas is. But he really isn’t. He just comes across as a chaser. If Stella was the ‘Prince’ and stolas left, she’d be in her element.

I agree! And wow yeah now that I think about it the fact Stella is able to make friends with other royals but St*las never has is, yeah that says a lot. I agree that its probably supposed to portray him as being soooooo #notlikeotherichpeople but the alternative in St*las' life has been seeking out relationships with those with less power than him by leveraging that power to force them.... sooooo yeah pretty ugly. There are nicer rich people like Ozzie in hell too. He really couldn't find any other Goetia or other elite that he could stand, at all?

I think in Stella's case shes not afraid to have relationships with those equal to and above her, which is of course largely classism on her part, but also says a cool thing about her in that shes bold. She will put herself out there. And honestly, I fail to hate her like I'm supposed to when actively seeking someone out because they're disadvantaged like St*las did is at least equally bad, imo...

I feel like seeing Via's daily life more as well as Stella's would be nice as well honestly. Both Stella and Via are so so interesting. I want to see their opinions on Stolas' work, what they want for their lives - maybe in Stella's case what she would have done with her life if not arranged married. While in Via's, how she even feels about her inheritance and the extent to which she does and doesn't know about it. I want to see Helluva Boss more through their eyes and not just St*las', they should get to be more than "St*las' wife" and "St*las' daughter".

I feel like this is a problem with the show generally in that we know the female characters like or dislike another character greatly, usually a male one. But aside from that, we see not a lot. Like what do they want out of life? Loona wants to have other hellhound friends/a social life and has a mixed relationship with Blitz, yet the focus on that has fallen to the wayside lately -_-. Millie seems to exist to be supportive and to kick ass and love Moxxie, but outside that, we so rarely hear her opinions on anything or goals she wants for herself... I really just want to actually peer into and see the female characters lives like we have gotten to with Blitz and Moxxie, so so much. Even little things like those two loving horses and musical theater, can we please have that but for our ladies?

[jgroffdaily]

Excerpts from Daniel Radcliffe's interview with the New York Times on 30 April.

Daniel Radcliffe caught the first batch of Tony nominations during the announcement at 8:30 a.m. He texted congratulations to his “Merrily We Roll Along” co-star Jonathan Groff, who was nominated for best actor in a musical.

But then dad duty called before his own category, featured actor in a musical, was announced at 9:00.

“I was in the middle of doing breakfast and trying to put my son down for his morning nap, so I got a text from a member of the cast letting me know I was nominated,” said the actor, 34, who stars as the lyricist and playwright Charley Kringas in the acclaimed revival of the 1981 Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical, “Merrily We Roll Along.”

Radcliffe’s Tony nomination — for his fifth Broadway role since his 2008 debut in “Equus” — is the first of his career. And it’s extra special, he said in a phone conversation from his New York apartment on Tuesday, because not only Groff, but his other “Merrily” co-star, Lindsay Mendez, was also nominated, for featured actress.

“People in your line of work probably get bored of actors talking about how much they love each other, how much they enjoy working with each other,” said Radcliffe, who is best known for playing Harry Potter onscreen. “And we do say it a lot, but this group is really awesome — Lindsay, Jonathan, the whole cast. I feel so lucky.”

You recently were the ring bearer at Lindsay’s wedding, for which Jonathan served as the officiant. How did that come about?

It’s what I do in the show — when Jonathan and Katie Rose Clarke are getting married, I’m the ring bearer. So we were in Lindsay’s dressing room on the Saturday or Sunday before she got married, and she just offhandedly was like, “Would you be the ring bearer?” We found that funny. So I did! But also I suddenly went from going to a wedding with zero responsibilities to going and having to not screw something up; to not drop the rings and suddenly have them flying around Central Park! But it was fine.

All three of you have been with the show since its Off Broadway run in 2022. How has your performance grown and changed?

When we first met, we were getting on really well, but we were still getting to know each other, so we were having to act the friendship more. And now so much of it is just there. That’s not a feeling you get all the time as an actor. It’s rare, and I feel very lucky that I just have to look into Jonathan’s eyes or Lindsay’s eyes and get everything I need to get through whatever moment we’re doing.

What initially attracted you to the “Merrily” role?

When I saw this production in London, I had the reaction of going, “Oh, I’m really right for this part.” I could hear my voice in the character pretty early on. I love musical theater, but it’s not something I’ve done my whole life the way Jonathan and Lindsay have, so the vocal aspects and the musical aspects are the stuff I’ve really enjoyed, especially when the music is as incredible as Sondheim’s. “Franklin Shepard” in particular was pretty challenging to learn initially. But now that it’s in me, it’s incredibly fun.

There’s no challenge in musical theater like a Sondheim patter song.

The first few times I was doing it, it was genuinely terrifying. The one time Off Broadway where it kind of went wrong was one of the most terrifying things that’s ever happened to me onstage.

What happened?

I got ahead of the band by like half a beat, so I was out of sync with them for — it felt like 30 seconds, but it was probably less. Thankfully there are enough musical things happening in that song that I recognized one of them and was able to reorient myself.

Who is the person you’ve been most nervous to have come see the show?

Meryl Streep was in the audience one night, and I was very thrilled to find that out after the show was finished.

[sirfrogsworth]

Ask me anything.

(Anonymous questions will be turned on for a while. But if anyone is mean, I will turn them back off and you will ruin it for everyone.)

I'm bored and tired and lonely. I could use some interaction. All answers will be posted publicly unless requested otherwise.

I don't have a lot of energy for long involved answers. Plus I want to challenge myself to write with brevity. So I am going to limit myself to answer in 2 paragraphs or less.

You can ask anything. Personal questions are fine. I'm quite the over-sharer. I give decent life advice due to being old as heck.

Things I know a lot about...

Consumer technology (phones, TVs, computers, audio, etc) Photography Lighting Photo editing and restoration Corgis Home Theater Comedy Writing (but not poetry) 90s Alternative Music Classical Singing Guitars Guitar Pedals

I'm a bit of a know-it-all in general. Outside of those categories I am pretty much this character...

Let's see how this goes.

[mikuyuuss]

I just went to the kny premiere and this is my OOTD.

Since my hair is partially dyed pink, I went for a Mitsuri inspired look. I braided my hair, wore her shirt (that I got from the swordsmith premiere) and wore all her colors (pink white jacket, green skirt, and flower patterned socks.) Also close up of my pink hair below.

I got this idea when me and my friend were window shopping for clothes. We were talking abt which clothes the kny characters would wear and which ones our oc would wear too, so that's how we thought of doing some casual cosplay during the priemere.

My friend went for a subtle Tengen look, with a simple black outfit, since Tengen doesnt wear a haori. He also wore some jewelry as an homage to Tengens flashiness. He also loves Zenitsu so ofc he wore a Zenitsu bag.

The theater has less people and wasn't as lively as the Swordsmith premiere, probably cuz we went at the wrong time, but hey, more room for us to be unhinged without disrupting anyone tho haha. (I was sad not to see any cosplayers, we intended to bring our cosplayer friend too, but she was busy)

There was a display so we took lots of pictures. We even made sure to stand next to our fictional crushes, me with Giyuu and my friend with Tengen.

Anyways here's what I thought abt the movie so far

-first of all I LOVE IT. I have no idea how much I miss seeing the rest of the characters so much. The Hashira Training arc is an arc that I really adore, bc it's one of the few moments where we get to see the characters slow down a bit. My friend says he finds it to be the most boring arc, but idk, with all the action in KNY I dig for some "boringness" once in awhile. Also we were joking abt how this arc is like the "school festival arc" or "beach episode" of KNY, again, one of the reasons to love this arc.

-I Never thought much about Sanemi and Obanai's dynamic before. I just know they are a besties, but this filler really made me interested in them! Snake breathing and Wind breathing visuals were just sooo cool!!

-Have I mention that I miss the cast so much, but also I find myself foaming at the mouth everytime I see Giyuu 💀🤣 I noticed that there seems to be a sad piano music that's playing when he was trying to leave the meeting (I wonder if that is his ost) meanwhile my friend is foaming at the mouth everytime he sees Tengen.

-I feel bad for anyone in the butterfly estate who had to sleep next to Zenitsu and Inosuke. XD

-Also it's so nice to see some Kanao and Shinobu moment! Shinobu looks extra gorgeous I noticed. They really yassified her this season, and I'm not complaining. Also I like how even after Giyuu left, Shinobu tried her best to include him when they were discussing the pillar training. I wish they didnt cut it short though, I wanna know what they talk about Giyuu behind close doors so bad lol.

-Mitsuri's "Tanjiro speech" was so well executed and adorable, and just when I thought it couldn't get more expressive in the manga, then they even added her ost, and it was just perfect! Kanahana knock it out of the park with this one too! Even if there weren't alot of people watching. I did hear some giggles in this scene (including ourselves)

-Overall, it was a very satisfying watch. I really enjoy this arc for being some of the slower moments before the storm that is the final arc, and I think they managed to nail that! All the little things such as the filler of Tamayo being informed about Shinobu helping her, and some scenes that were rearranged, made the flow of the story go more smoothly.

-Also yes the op really slaps.

Speaking of our cosplayer friend that we mentioned before, after we were done with movie, it's almost as if there was some fate or foreshadowing going on bc we did end up stumbling upon her (though not in cosplay) and we ended up going back to take better pictures with her in it!

[christophfanalways]

INTERVIEW from Dec. 2, 2023

Actor Christoph Waltz: “Anti-Semitism is a very deep disease in a society. But it's not a fact that you just have to accept."

In an exclusive interview with “NZZ am Sonntag”, the Austrian talks about opera, anti-Semitism in his childhood and neuroses as a family legacy.

Christoph Waltz, do you find films boring?

Christoph Waltz: How did you come up with the idea?

Because you started directing operas after over 120 films and two Oscars.

But not out of boredom! I have always found opera, a story embedded in music, to be extremely interesting. Of course I could pursue this medium at home on the couch with a textbook. But I'm always interested in the activity, the doing. That's why I'm not yet an opera director. There are plenty of great ones out there.

So why do you stage operas?

You always talk about intention and approach, but you also have to be given the chance to implement it. And Aviel Cahn, the director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, was looking for someone who could tell a compelling story. He didn't ask me because he expected an incredibly innovative concept that would revolutionize opera.

In a conversation with Daniel Barenboim you described yourself as a “conservative fart”. Is this a good starting point for staging an opera in 2023?

I said that because I am following with some interest how a new convention has become established in the cultural world. Look, the iconoclasm has long since been done. All texts are deconstructed. In principle, almost all theoretical approaches have been exhausted. What are you doing now?

Tell us.

Anyone who claims to be iconoclastic or unconventional is simply conforming to this new convention. And as a viewer I'm disappointed because I already suspected that.

That doesn't sound conservative. By conservative I would imagine that you keep something as it is.

May I be very rude: That's just how you imagine it. Words are filled with meanings and we are attached to them.

How do you imagine it?

For me, a work does not have to be new in its form. It's about the viewer. The work is intended to enable him to find a small gap in his beautifully crafted imagination and to let a little light shine through there. I prefer to sit back and be served in the “Kronenhalle”, it costs just as much and takes just as long.

Christoph Waltz

The most elegant of all villains

Born in Vienna in 1956, Waltz grew up in a family of theater makers and psychoanalysts; he has the same stepfather as the director Michael Haneke. Waltz studied singing and acting. He won an Oscar each for “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained” by Quentin Tarantino. Since then he has been known as a cool, elegant villain.

Richard Strauss' “Rosenkavalier” moves in a time-schizophrenia. A past is imagined, but with waltz sounds that didn't exist back then, and it's about topics that are relevant today, such as #MeToo. What are you after?

I don't have to follow what's already in the story, it's there. And I wouldn't like to claim that I'm so much smarter than Hugo von Hofmannsthal or Richard Strauss that I have to help things along. Although when it comes to Hofmannsthal, I'm not what you would call a fan. The year in which “Rosenkavalier” was performed was the year in which Schönberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire” was written. Hofmannsthal indulged in Kakanien for a bit.

Christoph Waltz rehearsing “Rosenkavalier” at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Dougados Magali

In the k.-u.-k. During the monarchy, Vienna's cultural identity was very Jewish. It was the time of Sigmund Freud, Karl Kraus, Oskar Kokoschka, Joseph Roth. Did this mean there was less anti-Semitism in Vienna?

I'm not sure about this. I experienced anti-Semitic things myself as a school child in Vienna. But they weren't problematized in the 1960s. I had a teacher who told my best friend in geography class to stop making stupid Jewish jokes. Nobody was outraged back then. The teacher was just an old Nazi and an idiot, we knew that. My boyfriend didn't mind at all either. I was more itchy than him.

Because your own father's mother was Jewish?

No. Nobody has tied their identity to humiliation. It wasn't scratched.

How is identity determined? At the family? Your grandfather, Rudolf Urbantschitsch, was a psychoanalyst, your grandmother an actress.

A psyche, especially a child's psyche, is occupied with concepts that this brain did not produce on its own. This is inevitable. This is how we shape our personality and our identity. But this is different than one that is consciously and intentionally accepted due to external circumstances.

You need to explain this in a little more detail.

I mean, this identity politics today isn't really about identity. It is identity. I haven't thought this through carefully, but I'll say it anyway: it's more about an agenda than an identity.

Since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict on October 7th, the German cultural scene has been forced to position itself.

This compulsion is akin to the formation of a new convention that we spoke about earlier. Nobody asks exactly, and nobody is interested in the facts. But everyone wants to represent something. Because they don't know exactly what, they just represent themselves. And since they don't have much to do with it, it's made all the more loud and extreme. This is a tragic development that can definitely be attributed to the decline in educational standards.

That's why you're worried about the state of our culture?

The viewer's judgment is hindered. We can only make progress through the judgment of the observer.

Her grandfather coined the phrase: “Neurosis is the emblem of culture.” Was he right?

I think this is a “sound bite” that was already used for marketing back then. This opinion puts me at odds with my siblings, who view the matter with more reverence. My grandfather sometimes formulated something cryptically, not least because he wanted to cover up his less-than-scientific approach.

Why do you view him critically?

That was his conflict with Freud. That Freud said he wasn't scientific. They were together in the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association. My grandfather was, in a sense, a student of Freud. But who wasn't in psychoanalysis at that time?

Was it and was it considered good manners in Vienna to be somewhat neurotic?

Can I say: There are more psychotherapists and psychoanalysts in Zurich than in Vienna. And significantly more.

But any amateur Freudian would be delighted with you because you first married a psychoanalyst and then a costume designer - which was your mother's job.

Yes. Of course all of this influenced me. That would have been the case if my grandfather had been a locksmith and my mother had been a physicist. Everything that has happened to you shapes you. So we all need to be a little more careful about what we do with it.

What do you mean?

Because we are not simply the victims of our conditioning. If we are interested in a particular matter, we must handle the matter responsibly. You have options for action. This also applies to anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is a very deep disease in a society. But that doesn't mean it's a fact that you just have to accept. Even if you are an anti-Semite yourself. You could also leave it be. This is available to you.

Don't you overestimate us humans?

The question would be: How can I, on my own initiative, decide that it would be much more beneficial not only for myself, but for the general public to let it go?

And how is that supposed to succeed?

No idea. It is the task of those who have already recognized this to show others these possibilities. And not as a moral obligation, but as a practical possibility. This is how cognitive behavioral therapy works. You don't say: You're bad. Because that is – speaking of childhood – the best way to create opposition and neuroses.

Art has to play a role here. The mass medium of film in particular has a very significant impact on young people. But when the threshold of shame falls and the level of education falls, what can art do?

I'm afraid art can't change much. And I fear something even worse: that's not what art is intended for.

Rather?

Art is a way into a dimension that we cannot reach any other way.

But something could happen to me there that reminds me: Be the individual you believe you are. And act accordingly instead of what a group tells you to do.

Of course, you are right. Art can open up a perspective on problematic topics. But she cannot agitate, i.e. reverse the dynamic and intervene didactically.

She could, but she shouldn't.

It can create nothing but vehement opposition if someone throws this thing in my face. Art can only invite me, as a viewer or listener, into this dimension, and I must also be able to venture into it. The change is up to the viewer. But the artist cannot force this on me.

As an actor, you have to trust that the finished film will open doors like that. It is, so to speak, beyond your responsibility how your role affects the audience.

But it is my responsibility to give you a response. Your own and not something I would ask of you. It is a great responsibility not to stand in front of the role and the story and say that you think I, Christoph, are great. But to make room – ultimately for you. But this is one thing that is currently not being taken care of.

So, is your defining characteristic as an actor and director is humility?

I almost said arrogance. But that's not it either. But it is by no means modest.

What then?

It's a completely different consideration: how I open the content. And how I invite you into the content.

You actually want to be repelled by the Bond villain Blofeld, who you played, but you can't. That's one such reaction.

Wondering why you can't manage to dislike the villain? I can't get any higher praise. Because you're asking yourself that, but not me.

They wouldn't even be able to answer it.

No, I don't know what brings you to this.

Why do you like playing these elegant, chilly villains so much?

I don't live out evil. If I played a murderer and wanted to live that out, I would have to go kill someone now. As an actor, I synchronize myself with a story, like you do when you read a novel, for example.

Christoph Waltz as a 20-year-old in the children's show “Amdamdes”

youtube

You studied singing, you can play the cello, piano, saxophone and guitar and you almost became a musician. Is the emotional, romantic opera your balance to your villain roles?

Already. But maybe not for the reasons you mentioned.

Then why?

Because of the music. What is inside her alone. It gives what is being told an additional dimension. Although in the case of “Rosenkavaliers” Strauss may not be at the top of his craft in terms of craftsmanship. The fans had condemned him for this work after his “Elektra”. It's too banal. Not that I have a bad conscience - but I ask myself: Can I really allow myself to talk about Strauss like that?

Why not? As a director, Strauss is your work material.

No, not material, but leadership.

This is too humble an attitude.

Well, I'll allow that, please. Thanks. I'll take advantage of that. This may pose a risk if I don't question the source. But I believe that just as I hinder your viewing when I stand in front of a role as an actor, I hinder your reception when I stand in front of a work as a director.

Are you against interpretation?

If I wanted to put a context on this that I claim I am the only one to recognize, and compel you to share that view, it would be for me as an old practitioner developing a worldview as if the horse was being bridled from the tail.

The music also provides a reading.

There are directors like Michael Haneke who reject music in their films because they say it is a rule for the viewer, a misdirection into emotionality. A film without music is still a film. If you take the music away from the opera, it's no longer opera.

In “Rosenkavalier” Baron Ochs is a terrible philanderer, but he sings very sweetly and naively.

Assuming that you are in a relationship, if you could sometimes smack your partner against the wall, would that mean you love them less at that moment? Definitely not. Conversely, it could be that you can't stand him right now, but in moments you are carried away by a reaction, a behavior. No person who wants to claim to be human consists of only one characteristic.

And you also find that in “Rosenkavalier”?

“Rosenkavalier” is such an incredibly psychologically nuanced piece that the whole Mozartkugel packaging in which we are always fobbed at it doesn’t come close to capturing the dimension of its humanity.

[lifmera]

Hi! I was wondering if I could get matched up with a Hazbin Hotel character

• My pronouns are she/her

• I am bisexual

• I'm quite reserved and introverted, one to Belen's into the crowd and not one to stand

out, but once you get to know me I can be very open and expressive. An introverted theater kid essentially. I'd also say l'm pretty kind, but can also be sarcastic. I can also be a bit mischievous as l like to do random stuff because I think it's funny. Despite all this I'm still a more lower energy person and am pretty calm, the mediator and quite mature I'm told). The therapist friend who also needs a therapist if you will. But that more hyper part of me definitely comes out more intensely if something I like is involved

• My interests are in drawing, writing, engineering, and ESPECIALLY music as I have a very large imagination and am constantly thinking up new scenarios with different characters. I also loves rocks and have a rock collection, and find interest in other small things that I'll dip my toes into (like abandoned Disney animatronics, mechanics of roller coasters, Ancient Rome history, etc) but I also love media such as anime (Naruto specifically), NATM, Hamilton, Greatest Showman, and more

• I am also an INFJ

• Uh... I have epilepsy (not photosensitive), I get very socially anxious depending on the scenario but am getting better about it, don't like fake people, and I have trust issues. I am also in a choir

I hope this is enough information for you! ^^

HI!!! Yes its enough!

I’ve decided to pair you with….VAGGIE!

Vaggie LOVES that you’re introverted. So is she! She’d rather have someone who blends into the crowd. It takes less attention away from her constantly.

She also loves that you can be yourself when you open up to her, especially if you are truly kind to her!

She loves theatre too! She would always sing with you, and definitely a shower singer!

She likes that you also have a kick to you! It shows that you don’t always need her to stand up for yourself.

Although she doesnt say anything about the random things, at times she’ll find it funny. She needs something that wont make her life boring??

And if you are willing to listen to her talk, and be her therapist? She’d love you.

It was bad after the exterminations, but losing her eye and falling? She never would confide in anyone.

And she NEEDS to.

She loves that you have multiple interests! And would totally ask you to write stories of you both together with some drawings. She’d probably ask you to read it to her.

Engineering? Thats so cool! She’d think you’d be a great addition to the hotel. :)

She loves to sing too, and if you guys sang love duets, her heart would melt.

She would LOVE to hear about the stuff you love. Like why do you have a rock collection?? What do they symbolize?? Oh a new show you like? Whats it about ??

She would help you thru anything you need! If you confided in her about epilepsy ? This girl is ON TOP OF EVERYTHING. She’ll make sure you are always taken care of. 😍

~~~

Hopefully thats okay!

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Hiii! So, I'm kinda nervous to try but I wanna try the whole matchmaking thing for DC if you don't mind?

So, I'm 5'1, have shoulder length fluffy black hair, I have brownish yellow skin, have a scar above my left eyebrow from some stitches I got there, and dark-ish brown eyes.

I'd say I'm an energetic person, but at the same time have almost no energy for anything if that makes sense? I'm energetic if it's something I like, tired 24/7 otherwise. I'm self diagnosed with Autism and ADHD, waiting on an official diagnosis when I have the money for it. My favorite colors are green, blue, purple, red and black. I like dancing, singing, am super into music, learning how to skateboard right now, I love riding bikes, I am obsessed with reading, I enjoy theatre and am probably a theatre kid. I also like watching anime. I don't really have any close friends, but I do have a lot of friends and acquaintances! I'm a social butterfly and can Yap about anything I'm passionate about. I'm bisexual (masc leaning) and Genderfluid. I love animals and currently do ballet. I'm also a math whiz and a science whiz.

My fashion sense leans on more goth, punk, emo, alt, and Cottagecore. I constantly wear platforms and spiked rings, sometimes dangly earrings. I also wear fingerless gloves a lot. And I mostly wear black.

I dunno what else I can use to describe myself, so I hope this is enough?

Your DCU Ship: Tim Drake

Explanation: starting off with physical attraction, I think he would be very attracted to you. He’s not much taller than you. He’s about 5 inches taller than you and I think that he likes that you’re shorter than him because it’s often hard to find a person that is shorter than him.  he would also probably find your scars pretty bad ass cool and definitely ask lots of questions about where you got them and if you were ever insecure about your scars, he would just tell you how cool they make you look. he also thinks that your brown eyes are really pretty, and if you ever tried to insist that they were just plain brown eyes, and there was nothing special about them then he would definitely start comparing them to all sorts of pretty brown things like the rich soil of the earth or the darkest chestnut wood, chocolate, and coffee or things like that. yes this does make sense. I’m kind of a similar person and also I think that you and Tim would be a great balance. He’s always kind of tired and he doesn’t really sleep or he’s alarm clocks and he’s always kind of drained so I think that you guys will make a good couples, especially with your constant energy. I feel like it would energize him a bit, and he would make you a little bit less chaotic and give you a little bit more motivation to do things. If you were ever tired because it was a boring day then I’m sure he would make coffee with you and then try to cheer you up a little bit and you guys will be just cute little coffee, grumpy people together. He would also totally do a lot of outdoorsy activities with you even though he’s more of a stay and read person. He’s more of an introvert so I feel like your social butterfly would kind of bring him out of that a little bit and he could help you kind of not overwhelming yourself with social interaction. also, if you’re into math and science, you guys would totally geek out together like I feel like you would be so cool. You guys could just go into a room and talk for hours about that stuff and never get bored and I feel like he’d be very happy that you share some of those more similar hobbies to him and I mean he is literally a better detective than Bruce Wayne himself. He’s extremely intelligent so he would love discussing those things with you, as a kid, he listens to musicals. I feel like not a theater kid himself, but he would listen to musicals with you, and I feel like he would listen to his musicals on his own anyway, and he would come to all of her shows and always be super supportive. he also really loves your fashion taste and I feel like that’s kind of what made you stick out to him in the first place as he was like oh my gosh that person is so cool and I’m such a nerd. I’m such a dork like and he was super awkward approaching you and then you approach him and started talking to him and he probably got pretty flustered and awkward and I don’t know. I just feel like it would kind of be a really funny interaction for you to guys to have because I mean, I have a theory that he’s incredibly confident as red Robin his superhero persona but when he’s Tim Drake, he is so awkward man. He cannot hold a conversation and then red Robin. He’s like so smooth talking that’s my theory. anyway yall r cutieee 💙

[insomniamamma]

Circle, Circle: Dieter Bravo X f!reader

A/n: written for my @yearofcreation2023 Year of Kisses. This prompt was a kiss for comfort, and a whole lot of real life happened between when I started this and now. This is a love letter to the theater nerds I knew in high school and the theater nerd I became later in life. This one turned out different than I thought it would. This story refused to be smutty. This story refused to be sexy. I don't make the rules. Inspired largely by this.

warnings: drug and alcohol use, angst, implied fatphobia, insecurity, cuddles and fluff, being dieter's best friend implies it's own warning.

You saw the clip. Annika belting Dieter in the chops in the middle of some posh party while Kate looked on with the kind of face you make when your drunken best friend barfs in a potted plant at your parents house. You never loved me! You never loved me at all! Dieter's hands thrown up in self defense, grinning at the cameras as security goons hook their arms around Annika's waist and pull her out of the shot. Day in the life.You saw the clip and knew what was coming. Dieter fuckin Bravo.

You've known D since middle school, gravitating towards each other because no one else wanted anything to do with either of you. The girls called you stupid and fat and ugly. The boys called him faggot. So you'd banded together, smoking cigarettes you stole out of your Gramma's dresser, smoking shake-weed out of pop-can pipes at the edge of school grounds, right under that stupid sign that read 'drug free school zone' and then kicking it into the tall grass when some terminally bored teacher's aide came to round up you and D and the rest of the burnouts. Nobody ever gave you more than the cursory straighten up and fly right speech. Neither of you were actively failing so no one cared. Then, in high school Dieter discovered the theater program and so did you.

You saw the clip and knew your phone would ring eventually. Or buzz rather. Coming home, he texts. Can you pick me up? Sure. What time? Knowing exactly what will happen. He'll say he won't be any trouble, that he'll book a room at the holiday inn and you'll tell him no and invite him to stay. Because you always do. Because home has turned on him for getting out. He's won an Oscar out in the world, but here? He's sneered at, deep well of contempt for those who strike out and fail and come home licking their wounds. Who does he think he is? Who do you think you are? Hurts less for you because you never tried to leave as much as you wanted to.

You should try out, you told him. If I'm trying out you should too, he told you. Little Shop of Horrors. He was gunning for Seymour so you learned Audrey, so you could practice the songs with him. I can't try out are you kidding me? You can, D told you, you sound...rested his hand on your upper arm the way someone might touch a live nuclear warhead. You sound good. We sound good together. You know that right? And inside you do. The way his voice weaves through yours, the way you can let go when it's just the two of you. His garage or your basement, singing over the piano track the music teacher made.

He's a mess. He looks about four days out from his last shower, his curls sticking up in greasy quills, his eyes are red-rimmed, from drugs or crying, you can't tell. This is how it is for him. He fucks up spectacularly and then he comes slinking home. No one cares here. No one gives a shit about his Oscar here. Just that no good Bravo boy limping home like a kicked dog. But you care. Dragging his carry-on along behind him, broad shoulders slumped, you feel that unwilling, unwitting spike of pity lodge in your chest.

They'd laughed. At the audition. When you and Dieter took your positions on stage, a bit of rough blocking you'd worked out between the two of you. Not loud braying laughter, snickers and titters of girls expecting a debacle and you feel your chest constrict and your eyes burn--

"Lift up your head Wash off your mascara Here, take my Kleenex, wipe that lipstick away Show me your face, clean as the morning I know things were bad, but now they're okay--"

But Dieter has you, grips your chin with finger and thumb just like you practiced, those big brown eyes terrified and deadly serious hold yours as he draws you to your feet. Audrey's lines pour out of you in a rush, the accompaniment a hair slower than the recording, I blew it, I blew the song and then you find the tempo, you find your voice and it rings out like it did all the times you and Dieter ran it together, belting it over the cast recording, rings out into the dark auditorium, the way you've heard it in your head this whole time, and you feel your skin prickle as Dieter's voices threads through yours like a grounding touch, and you finish together, singing into each other's faces.

The accompaniment stops and there's polite applause.

"You saw?" "Everybody saw--" "Fuck."

He smells like stale beer, fast food and no sleep. "You knew it wasn't gonna last with her right?" You keep your eyes on the road, but you can feel D bristle in the passenger's seat. "How do you mean?" "Come on, man, she's, like, half your age. Even if you hadn't cheated on her with Kate--" "Hey--" "You and her have nothing in common other than being trapped in that weird quarantine bubble," you say, "That's not love, that's fucking Stockholm syndrome." "You're probably right." "I'm always right. Haven't you figured that out by now?"

"This is some bullshit!" Dieter jabs a chipped black fingernail at the list of names tacked to the bulletin board outside the auditorium. "Your name is nowhere on that list. We sounded so good together! They--" "Dieter it's fine," you say. "They cast Emmy Lancaster as Audrey! What the fuck?" "Emmy's fine. She's got a nice voice." "Yeah, but she's not you! How'm I gonna do it if it's not you?" "D! Stop it!"You grab him by his upper arms and shake him a little, and those big brown eyes lock onto yours and he looks like he's drowning. "You've got this. I know you, dude, you're gonna be great." His eyes flick back and forth like he's searching for something. "Will you still run lines with me?" "Of course I will, you asshole."

"You hungry?" "Starving." "Mabels?" "Mabels."

"Oh, man, I forgot how good this is."

You and Dieter order the same thing as ever, garbage omelets with and order of biscuits and gravy split between you. D slathers his plate in hot sauce and you wrinkle your nose like you always do. And the question comes up as it always does. Can I stay with you? Just for a little bit-- and the answer is always yes, because D is a disaster but he's your disaster.

He's held your hair while you puked, you babied him when his girl dumped him right before senior prom. You ran lines together, even though you couldn't act with him. You don't have the right look for Audrey, they told you, but we do need a stage manager, and you threw yourself into it even though it hurt, because what where you expecting? And you had a knack for it, which surprised you and everyone else. The Audrey Two puppets were rented, but everything else had to be built and you found that you loved it, sketching out the sets, figuring out how to make the pieces light enough for you and the half-dozen other nerds you'd press-ganged into being stage crew to lift easily. We can do most of it with scrims, paint right on the fabric and then light it on from the back, or we could project the images right on them, like what Nine Inch Nails does. We can get with the AV club, see what they think.

"You can always stay with me, Dieter." You reach across the sticky table and wrap your hand around his forearm, "You know that right?" And there's a flicker across his face that says no, and it feels like a spike in your belly--

"Everyone's saying-- Christ. It's like everything I touch turns to shit."

"C'mon, that's crap and you know it, Hunger Strike--"

"That was different!" He surges forward and takes your hands in his, a bit of coffee sloshed between you, turned ears and cocked heads of the few patrons haunting Mabel's this time of night. "I had something there! It was like, something entirely outside of me--"

"Like catching lightning in a bottle?"

"Exactly like that!" And he smiles, brilliantly, the real one, not the cool little smirk reserved for the red carpet, for the press junkets, the smile that lights him up, the one you remember from way back when the lights came up and the orchestra played the main theme, the cast linked arm and arm, ready to take their bows and Dieter broke ranks, deviated from what you'd done in the previews, running the show for a cadre of bored teachers who'd rather be doing just about anything else, he sees you in the wings and catches your eye, waves you out two handed, a huge clownish gesture that requires a response, so you and the tech crew pour onto the stage, while the actors slide down to make room for you and you dip your outstretched hands to the orchestra and raise them again to the soundboard and spot operator the way you've seen every night this run and then everyone links arms and bows in a wave and suddenly Dieter's arms are locked around you, releases you and then turns to the crowd, raises your hand and his together, as the applause comes up.

"Do you know how that feels?" And you remember the way you and him sounded together, how Audrey poured out of your lungs like she had always been there-- "Yeah, D, I do," and his eyes flicking back and forth across your face still and hold yours, his hands warm in your grasp.

"Yeah," he says, and squeezes your fingers in his, "Yeah, I think you do." And you stay like that a beat, hands folded together across the sticky table, ancient cigarette smoke and old coffee and hand sanitizer. The waitress brings the check. One of Mabel's spray tanned granddaughters. You draw your hands away like you've been caught.

You've kissed Dieter exactly once, under the much-graffitied overpass, neon slurs and pentagrams and pigeon shit, both of you drunk on Wild Irish Rose, him smelling of weed and his mouth was warm, tentative against yours, and you'd laughed about it afterwards, circle-circle dot-dot now i've got my cootie shot, and you'd leaned together with your arms around each other, warm and solid against each other.

During tech week you'd pulled double duty, running lines with Dieter because outside of the auditorium Emmy Lancaster wouldn't even look at him, rolled her eyes all through rehearsal as if she was doing the world a favor by being there. She wanted nothing to do with him outside of scheduled rehearsals and Dieter was scared. The tech crew you'd rounded up was a different story all together, the lights are down and they can't see us so go nuts, so backstage you'd gone full goth, all black and dramatic makeup, and some of the others had followed suit, a little bit of rebellion behind the curtain where no one could look at you.

After one particularly grueling night, you and Dieter find yourselves side by side on the futon in your basement. Your bedroom proper is upstairs but your folks have let you build a nest down here so won't bother the rest of the house. They've mostly given up on you but that gives you some freedom.

"I don't know what I'm doing," he says, looking up at the crappy drop ceiling and glow in the dark stars that you've decorated it with. "Emmy hates my guts. She thinks I'm a creep. How'm I supposed to make this work?"

"Pretend she's me."

"What?"

"Pretend. She's. Me. You're good singing and running lines with me, so just imagine it's me and not Emmy fuckin Lancaster up there with you."

"Will that work?"

"Dude, I don't fuckin know, but you better figure it out quick. We open in a week."

The ride home is silent save for the scrape of windshield wipers, low, warm spit of rain, winding back roads and Dieter's fallen asleep, head turned away, slumped against the window, comes blearily awake at the sound of your tires on the gravel driveway.

"Hey, D, we're home." He stretches in the passenger's seat and yawns hugely.

"I can still get a hotel. I don't want to be a problem--"

"Too late. C'mon."

You fall asleep under fake plastic glowing stars and wake to find you and him wrapped together, his forehead pressed to yours, your arms tucked around his ribs, his hand folded over the curve of your hip, his breath warm against your face, and you're not sure how this makes you feel, because you've never been close with someone quite like this and you're not sure what might happen next, but at the same time this is Dieter and you've known each other for what feels like a million years and he looks so different asleep, face all slack like a little kid who's zonked out in the back on the car on some long road trip.

"I'll take the couch." "The fuck you will. I know the wire-work on Cliff Beasts 6 tweaked your back." "Was it that obvious?" "I could tell." "You can always tell."

"D. Hey, D." You try to squirm out of his grip without waking him, but you haveto resort to a good hard poke in the ribs. His eyes fly open and the two of you launch up and out of bed and away from each other like two magnets forced pole to pole.

"hoooomygod. Oh shit I'm so sorry, I didn't mean--" "Dude, it's okay, I didn't mean either-" "I was just so tired holy shit," his eyes are wide and his cheeks are fire engine red and you can feel the embarrassment and anxiety pouring off him like radiation. You start laughing. You can't help it. "What?" "You remember that scene from Planes, Trains & Automobiles?" Dieter brays laughter and the embarrassment flicks out like a candle flame.

You offer your hand and he takes it. You lead him upstairs. You need to get cleaned up. You smell like the floor of a taxi-cab, and Dieter laughs, a small one that just barely touches his eyes, his big be-ringed hand folded around yours, stroking your knuckles with the pad of his thumb, eyes down-turned.

"You always let me come back to you. No matter how bad I fuck up. You don't have to- you shouldn't--"

"Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do Dieter Bravo. You can always come to me. Unless you become a serial killer. Which seems unlikely considering how squeamy blood makes you."

Dieter laughs, a real one this time, that dimples his scruffy cheek and crinkles his eyes closed, and he knows you're talking about the time in Mrs. Wilson's home economics class when Lola Stevens sliced her thumb opening a can of peaches to make cobbler and Dieter got one good look at the running blood and slithered bonelessly out of his chair, eyes rolled up to the whites.

He laughs and pulls you into a crushing hug, his arms banded around your back, pressing you into him and it catches you off guard and you stumble against him, sorry. I didn't mean, and you don't give him space to elaborate, tuck your face into his neck, wind your arms just as tight around his middle. He smells like skunk weed and whiskey sweat and fast food and exhaustion but also like home, like those fevered days leading up to opening night, like when your first serious boyfriend had dumped you, like when he'd held your hair while you puked in the weeds by the side of the road, walking back home from a kegger that he cops broke up, the two of you creeping into the basement, got you a big sweating plastic tumbler of water in the ugly yellow light from the range hood, his eyes big and dark and serious, afraid of waking the rest of the house, and laughter had come bubbling up silent giggles that he caught like the plague, did you see the way Greggie ran?-- shut up you're gonna get us caught--

"Christ I missed you." "Missed you too, D, but you really need to shower." "That bad, huh?" "Yeah, that bad."

With some coaxing Dieter sleeps beside you, curled away from your nightstand lamp. Can't ever sleep without reading a little first, a horror yarn you've read a half-dozen times, plucky hero and damsel in distress threaded through with Dieter's even breath. He looks oddly frail in the soft light, back hunched in and knees tucked up like he's cold. You kill the light and slide the book under your pillow. You already know how it ends.

You kill the light and tuck yourself against his broad back, slide your arm around and his hand finds yours, folds your fingers into his, tucked against his chest. He smells like your soap and your shampoo because his toothbrush and a hair-clotted razor were the only toiletries that made it into his tangle of luggage. Walmart, you think, need to go anyway. You feel him soften, relax into your embrace, his weight settling against you, press your lips to the back of his head before tucking your face into the warm join of his shoulder.

His voice, sleep heavy and slurred-"Did you just kiss me?"

"Circle-circle, dot-dot"