#os: tales of the lady red

[pumaskulls]

Some reference updates! :D

[erythristicbones]

curse of suddenly becoming unreasonably attached to side characters in my stories strikes again

[best-of-basslines]

Song Masterpost

[I was planning on linking all the songs to versions on Youtube, but apparently it goes over the number of links allowed on a post. Instead, the songs will be linked on each poll.]

Talk Talk - "It's My Life"

Kajagoogoo - “Too Shy”

The Beach Boys - “Good Vibrations”

Rush - “New World Man”

Cream - “Spoonful”

The Police - “Message in a Bottle”

Jackson 5 - “I Want You Back”

Diana Ross - “I’m Coming Out”

Diana Ross and the Supremes - “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”

The Supremes - “You Can’t Hurry Love”

The Jam - “Town Called Malice”

David Essex - “Rock On”

Radiohead - “15 Step” | “Paranoid Android”

Michael Jackson - “Thriller” | “Billie Jean”

Elton John - “Dirty Little Girl”

Angra - “Nothing to Say”

Serú Girán - “La Grase de las Capitales”

Os Mutantes - “Ando Meio Desligado”

Bill Withers - “Lovely Day”

Blur - “Girls and Boys”

Sly and the Family Stone - “Thank You (Falettinme be Mice Elf Again)”

Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - “Express Yourself”

Jr. Walker and the All Stars - “(I’m a) Road Runner”

Marvin Gaye - “I Heard it through the Grapevine” | “Midnight Lady”

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Tarrell - “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”

Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Higher Ground” | “Snow (Hey Oh)” | “Give It Away”

Primus - “My Name is Mud” | “Is it Luck?” | “Lacquer Head”

Beck - “Go It Alone”

The Fabs - “That’s the Bag I’m In”

The Shapes - “College Girls”

Herbie Hancock - “Chameleon”

Pink Floyd - “Money”

Rasputina - “Secret Message”

Madonna - “Material Girl”

Was (Not Was) - “Walk the Dinosaur”

Lemon Demon - “Jaws”

Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”

Steve Miller Band - “The Joker”

Violent Femmes - “Blister in the Sun”

War - “Low Rider”

Poppy - “Motorbike”

Tokyo Jihen (Tokyo Incidents) - “Noudouteki”

Graham Central Station- “Hair”

Oingo Boingo - “Dead Man’s Party”

Vulf Peck - “Deantown”

Iroha (feat. Rin Kagamine) - “Meltdown”

Labi Siffre - “I Got The…”

Deep Purple - “Space Truckin’”

The Breeders - “Cannonball”

Earth Wind and Fire - “Let’s Groove”

Parliament - “Give Up the Funk”

Liquid Liquid - “Cavern”

Melle Mel - “White Lines (Don’t Do It)”

Tiger Army - “Cupid’s Victim”

Limp Bizkit - “Nookie”

White Zombie - “Black Sunshine”

Alice in Chains - “Rooster”

Pearl Jam - “Daughter”

Norah Jones - “Cold Cold Heart”

Joy Division - “Transmissions” | “Disorder”

Metallica - “Orion”

Anthrax - “Caught in a Mosh”

Muse - “Hysteria” | “Plug in Baby” | “Futurism”

Arctic Monkeys - “Fake Tales of San Francisco” | “A Certain Romance” | “Dancing Shoes”

Bauhaus - “Double Dare” | “Kick in the Eye”

Chic - “Good Times” | “Everybody Dance”

Royal Blood - “Better Strangers”

Fleetwood Mac - “The Chain”

Iron Maiden - “Aces High”

The Damned - “Neat Neat Neat”

The Smiths - “Barbarism Begins at Home”

New Order - “Age of Consent”

Talking Heads - “Psycho Killer”

Romeo Void - “Never Say Never”

Cocteau Twins - “The Hollow Men”

Rage Against the Machine - “Killing in the Name” | “Bulls on Parade”

Dance Gavin Dance - “Don’t Tell Dave”

Queen - “Another One Bites the Dust” | “Dragon Attack”

Gorillaz - “Feel Good Inc.”

Megadeth - “Peace Sells”

Korn - “Got the Life”

Pantera - “Cowboys from Hell”

Queen + David Bowie - “Under Pressure”

Stevie Wonder - “Superstition”

Shiina Ringi - “Koufukuron (Etsuraku-hen)”

The Temptations - “My Girl”

Paramore - “Ain’t it Fun”

Måneskin - “For Your Love”

The Seatbelts - “Tank!”

Cake - “The Distance”

Gloria Gaynor - “I Will Survive”

Miles Davis - “Bitches Brew”

The Fall - “I Feel Voxish”

Public Image Ltd - “Swan Lake (Death Disco)”

Thelma Houston - “Don’t Leave Me This Way”

Killdozer - “King of Sex”

The Beatles - “Hey Bulldog” | “I Want You (She’s so Heavy)” | “Lady Madonna” | “Dear Prudence” | “I Will”

Wings - “Silly Love Songs”

Lou Reed - “Walk on the Wild Side”

White Stripes - “Seven Nation Army”

Gang of Youths - “Achilles Come Down”

AJR - “Sober Up”

Duran Duran - “Rio”

The Who - “Baba O’Riley” | “Getting in Tune”

Yes - “Roundabout”

Led Zeppelin - “Ramble On” | “Dazed and Confused”

The Cure - “Lovesong” | “The Lovecats”

[telltalerites]

Original Story Masterlist

This is a comprehensive, ever-updating list of my current WIPs! Every WIP that has a solid enough concept/outline, that I could theoretically start writing immediately, goes here. WIPs that have only vague ideas will instead be found at my Casual Story Masterlist. These are organized by their priority levels as of the making of the post, but may not remain that way as I add new stories + shift my content priorities around! The highest priority WIP will remain above the cut, but the rest will always be beneath it!

If you're looking for the short stories that I have already written about the stories/characters listed here, you should try my [Short Story Masterlist link goes here].

The Divinations Trilogy (Book 1: Entrails of the Animals)

Kirsen is a young elf who doesn't really know how to function if she doesn't have a job- a purpose, to keep her busy. When she stumbles upon the Ironwatch, and an ages-old prophecy about ending the world with a magic as rare as it is powerful, it really does seem like she's found just that. But life in Usoara will never be quite so simple and there are life-shattering revelations just waiting to claw their way to freedom. If Kirsen isn't careful, attempting to save the world as she knows it may end up costing more than she is capable of giving.

POV: Kirsen, Lucida(Book 1)/ Jashe, Nova(Book 2)/ Isaac, Demi(Book 3)

Type: Trilogy

Character List: [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: High Fantasy

Blog Tag: “os: entrails of the animals"

Playlist: Entrails of the Animals Vibes

Shared Stories: Bound

Intended Medium: Written Novels

Priority Lvl: HIGHEST

Sideshow

All Fiona has ever wanted to do is blend into humanity as seamlessly as possible. There are hundreds of ways to learn about the many other humanoid species in their world- but humans were the first. They were the only ones, once upon a time, and no one has ever bothered to write something explaining the culture and ways of them. So, it looks like Fiona's going to have to do that one herself, if she wants to figure out just what it means to be human. A.K.A. The four most traumatized young adults you've ever seen end up teaching each other how to actually acknowledge their mental health and take care of themselves- with a few hang-ups along the way.

POV: Fiona (Main), Bronwyn, Sian, Danae (Arc Dependent)

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance

Blog Tag: “os: sideshow”

Playlist: Sideshow Vibes

Shared Stories: None Currently

Intended Medium: Visual Novel Game

Priority Lvl: HIGH

(NOTE: This is a collaboration between me and my girlfriend. I’ve written the script and am doing the coding of it currently, while she does the art! Softgoal for a playable demo is 2024)

Tales of the Lady Red

The Tyrant Queen's children flee the castle in the night, taking to a ship with the goal of making it as far away as possible. A notorious pirate ship, the Red Lady, interferes with that plan. Its Captain is someone with a hunger for the promise of infamy and the way to reach it presented to her on a silver platter; ransom the Queen's children back to her and disappear before the other shoe drops. The siblings were finally free of their mother's abuse...but are they prepared for the harsh life that awaits outside the castle walls?

POV: Cassandra, Angeles

Type: Duology

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Coming-of-age, Low Fantasy

Blog Tag: “os: the lady red”

Playlist: Tales of the Lady Red Vibes

Shared Stories: [Redacted for spoiler reasons :)]

Intended Medium: Written Novels

Priority Lvl: MED-HIGH

Cardinal Values

Plagued with horrible visions of their death every time they try to fall asleep, Jonas has set out on a quest to figure out who cursed them this way and how to fix it. Apparently, though, they aren't the only one getting cursed lately...and none of them can seem to remember who did it. Something around them isn't quite right- an invisible string that binds them together, a snare they must escape before it traps them for good.

POV: Jonas

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Low Fantasy, Thriller/Comedy

Blog Tag: “os: cardinal values”

Playlist: Cardinal Values Vibes

Shared Stories: None Currently

Intended Medium: Ideally RPG game or Visual Novel

Priority Lvl: MED-HIGH

(NOTE: I cannot for the life of me find a placeholder title I like, so the name + blog tag for this story might change soon and/or repeatedly)

They Sing of Fireflies

Firefly ran away from home to become a bounty hunter- what they didn't expect to discover was a deadly conspiracy to wipe out lycanthropy and vampirism, no matter how many innocent lives it takes to do so. Which is a bit much for a fifteen-year-old looking for their first taste of danger. But trying to put your past behind you has a funny way of backfiring sometimes and ignoring your future does not prevent it from bleeding out at your feet. When you keep ignoring it, even as the red trails behind you with every step, it's easy to pretend you will outrun the consequences...but your ancestors will sing of your avoidable mistakes.

POV: Firefly

Type: Duology

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Hopepunk

Blog Tag: “os: fireflies”

Playlist: They Sing of Fireflies Vibes

Shared Stories: Little Fang, The Nameless

Intended Medium: Written Novels or Graphic Novels

Priority Lvl: MEDIUM

Momentum

Something breaks the sound barrier, something tears through the walls of the universe, Ruska and Reece feel the vibrations of it despite their deafness. It makes their ears bleed...it makes adventure kick in their hearts- and they realize far too late that it has taken their parents. When it doesn't return, the twins set out to find the truth by themselves, if that's what it's going to take. But the thing about adventure is this; it bleeds into tribulation, which bleeds into obsession, which bleeds into martyrdom. And, as it turns out, when you saturate your every step with the blood of what you deemed worthy sacrifices...it is only a matter of time before the carnivores come sniffing out the trail that promises magic and power- for those hungry enough to bite the hand that feeds.

POV: Ruska, Reece

Type: Series

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Low Fantasy, Hopepunk

Blog Tag: “os: momentum”

Playlist: Momentum Vibes

Shared Stories: Velocity

Intended Medium: Graphic Novel, RPG game or Written Novel

Priority Lvl: MEDIUM

Velocity

Russell grew up on stories of their parent and their auncle setting out on an epic quest as teenagers. This on its own wouldn't be a problem- they have plenty of adults around to keep them out of trouble. But when you have access to a holy being that can travel through dimensions? Well, it doesn’t take him very long to come up with an amazing adventure of his own; to finish what his family started.

POV: Russell(Main), Josephine(Undecided)

Type: Series

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: High Fantasy/Sci-fi Fantasy mix

Blog Tag: “os: velocity”

Playlist: Velocity Vibes

Shared Stories: Momentum

Intended Medium: Graphic Novel, RPG game or Written Novel

Priority Lvl: LOW-MED

Little Fang

The smoke billows into the sky, sickly and light against the night sky. The candlelight flashes across every groove of the blade, meant more to tear than it is to slice. The good dog does as he is told, but it aches and it aches and it aches and- do you hear how the animal cries into the night? Does it stop you in your tracks, despite how it sings in your veins? How long does it take you to realize that YOU are the monster under the bed?

Mikala loves his daughter more than anything in the world…but is that enough to keep her safe from the monsters that lurk in his past?

POV: Mikala

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Gothic Fantasy, Low Fantasy

Blog Tag: “os: little fang”

Playlist: Little Fang Vibes

Shared Stories: They Sing Of Fireflies

Intended Medium: Written Novel

Priority Lvl: MEDIUM

Bound

The Blood Country wanted their perfect, mindless assassin back. They thought that luring her away from the makeshift family she had made in their absence and taking them out of the equation would leave her with no options other than to return to them. What they created, instead, was a monster who knows intimately just how to become their undoing. Ciileyn set out for a life where she need not ever raise a blade again...but sometimes you have to finish the war that someone else started.

How far would you go to avenge your family?

POV: Ciileyn

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Grimdark, High Fantasy

Blog Tag: “os: bound”

Playlist: Bound Vibes

Shared Stories: EOTA

Intended Medium: Written Novel

Priority Lvl: LOW-MED

Handle With Care (Fragile)

These things come in threes; the life, the death and the in-between. The world is ending- and nobody has a clue. The people who do are keeping secrets from one another that could destroy all of their best efforts to stop it, but they've never been taught any different. All three of them are blissfully unaware that they're about one more preventable tragedy away from wigging out completely. Is it too late to forgive yourself and others for the things that you will never have the luxury of forgetting?

POV: Liona, Tanith, Marcilla (Dependent)

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Idek man…Urban Fantasy?

Blog Tag: “os: handle with care”

Playlist: Handle With Care Vibes

Shared Stories: None Currently

Intended Medium: Visual Novel game(Ideally), Written Novel(Realistically)

Priority Lvl: LOW-MED

The Nameless

Corinne moved to the town of Hobbysfell with her parents for college, but things quickly take a turn for the...weird. Something sinister has taken hold of the town- and when Cori's parents start behaving like autopilot NPC versions of themselves, she realizes that isn't as simple as "isolated rural town strangeness". If she ever wants to get her family back, she's going to have to find the handful of other residents that seem to be unaffected and get to the bottom of things...before there are no more brainwashed-civilians left to save.

POV: Corinne

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Supernatural Thriller, Urban Fantasy

Blog Tag: “os: the nameless”

Playlist: The Nameless Vibes

Shared Stories: They Sing Of Fireflies

Intended Medium: Written Novel

Priority Lvl: LOW

The Lotus Project (Placeholder?)

Is Chrysaor a prophet? A medium? A reincarnated elder God? Boy, would they sure like to know!

Is it too late to make up for the sins committed in lives that weren't yours? Is there a way to escape the enroaching jaws of fate when you've never seen anything else? Can you reconcile with the tragedies you couldn't outrun while they look you in the face? Will you ever be anything more than the pawn in someone else's fucked up game? The answer will never matter; the weapon is the wheel is the world.

POV: Chrysaor

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Thriller/Comedy, High Fantasy, Mythpunk

Blog Tag: “os: the lotus project”

Playlist: The Lotus Project Vibes

Shared Stories: EOTA(Loosely)

Intended Medium: Who knows, man

Priority Lvl: LOW-MED

Temporal Remedy

After awakening on a space station with no memories aside from her name, Remedy must make what she can out of this new life she has. Unfortunately, she doesn't feel like she was ever the type to sit back and let life sort itself out. When Remedy gets ahold of one of the station's infamous time-travel devices and uses it in a panic, to avoid being caught red-handed, it deposits her in what seems to be several decades earlier.

Which, coincidentally, happens to be the two week period where dozens of crewmembers began disappearing from the station without a trace...and nobody ever figured out what truly happened. So really, when presented with two exciting and enticing mysteries to discover, what did you expect the super nosy, headstrong idiot to do? NOT try and investigate them both at the same time?

POV: Remedy

Type: Standalone

Character List:  [Full list + bios on toyhouse]

Genre: Sci-fi, maybe Gothic Sci-fi?, Murder Mystery

Blog Tag: “os: temporal remedy”

Playlist: Temporal Remedy Vibes

Shared Stories: None Intended

Intended Medium: Written Novel

Priority Lvl: LOWEST

[Return to Directory]

[fericita-s]

The Princess and the Barbarian

A Helnik tale, rated T.  As Matthias recovers from a gunshot wound, Nina tells him the story of the Princess and the Barbarian. He interrupts a lot as his Fjerdan sensibilities are bothered and the Ravkan propaganda gets to be unbearable.  Thank you @theburnbarreljester​ for beta-ing and all the fantastic name suggestions.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Her Imperial Highness the Princess Inessa was unmarried at twenty-five and no one was in a hurry to change that, least of all Inessa.  

She was pretty enough and powerful besides.  Her hair was wavy and brown, prone to knots rather than seemly curls, and though her skin was too freckled to earn the admiration of the ladies at court her stately height was a subject of envy.  Ravka was the light of the known world, the pinnacle of burgeoning industry and scientific advancements and artistic endeavours and any number of lesser nations were eager to ally themselves with the imperial family by way of marriage.  Kerch, Shu Han, and the Wandering Isle sent instructions to their ambassadors to seek a match but the imperial family remained silent on the matter.  Fjerda had not sent any such inquiries, but it was to be expected that a nation of barbarians wouldn’t know how to build alliances through anything as civilized as marriage. 

Her brother, the Heir Apparent, was married and the father of two healthy sons.  Her parents, the Emperor and Empress, looked so hale that the royal healer had taken up gardening because his services were so rarely needed.  Her grandmother, the Dowager Empress, liked to summon wind to blow out a candle or to catch the topsail of her schooner as she took in the sights along the Neva River.  She’d even been known to flick her hand, calling a breeze, to show her cape to great advantage upon entering the ballroom. When news of firepox in a distant land had brought fear to the Grand Palace her grandmother was unconcerned.  “We’ll stay healthy and strong.  It’s the Grisha blood, my dearest.  You have it too, I can tell.”

Inessa couldn’t summon wind or call fire or feel the beating of hearts but she had a way with needle and thread, and not just for the embroidery acceptable for princesses. She fashioned horse blankets that kept the emperor’s steeds comfortable during the bleakest Ravkan winters and wicked away their sweat during the summer months.  She made tablecloths that red wine and butter-soaked blinis wouldn’t stain and handkerchiefs that felt cool against a fevered or blushing cheek. She lined woolen cloaks with a warmth that rivaled Fjerdan furs and were lighter to carry, a boon to their troops guarding the northern border. She even fiddled with her nephews’ boots, adding to the soles so that they squeaked as they toddled around the castle, alerting their harried nannies to their escape attempts from the nursery. 

So, Ravka did not need her to make an advantageous marriage.  The line of succession was clear, the empire prospered, and Inessa was happy to experiment with the small science of making materials into more than their first purpose.

Until, one day, it did. 

The Shadow Fold had unfurled in a cut of darkness and death and betrayal and suddenly the empire was rent in half.  Attempts to cross it were terrifying.  There were tales of bloodthirsty beasts who skulked in the darkness, more terrifying than the barbarians in the north.  At least the Fjerdans looked human.  These shrieking, flying monsters devoured any who tried to pass with gnashing teeth and serrated claws.  They called them volcra.

Where there had just been Ravka, there was now East Ravka and West Ravka.  The palaces at Os Alta were far from the horror at Novo-Kribirsk and Tsemna and the few messengers who made it through the darkness and the volcra spoke of the need to separate into two nations.

Instead, the Emperor and Empress left their oldest son to govern Os Alta while they brought their only daughter as an offering to the Duke of Udova.  She would be a bride who would bind east and west and calm the fears of Ravkans.  

The imperial tailor had asked if she wanted to fabrikate part of her wedding gown, to make the lace shimmer or the beaded buttons glow, but she wasn’t interested in adorning herself for her husband-to-be.  She didn’t know him and didn’t particularly care to, though she did hope he would be satisfying in the way her lady’s maid told her the stablehand was, giggling and blushing and using hand motions that left Inessa mystified but curious.

All of Os Alta had been draped in bunting and garlands of white peonies even though the marriage was to take place at the edge of the Shadow Fold by the banks of the Sokol River. Every village on the journey had banners waving in honor of the upcoming wedding and the people lined the roads to cheer as the royal carriage passed. 

“To Ravka!” they cried.   “To Princess Inessa and the strength of our mighty land!”

[smalltownfae]

My Physical Books TBR (Fiction):

In English:

Asimov, Isaac - The Rest of the Robots

Atskinson, Kate - Life After Life

The Complete Novels of Jane Austen (to read: Emma, Persuasion, Lady Susan)

Barnhill, Kelly - The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Bronte, Emily - Wuthering Heights

Carter, Angela - The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities

Gaiman, Neil - Neverwhere

Gaiman, Neil - Norse Mythology

James, Marlon - Black Leopard, Red Wolf

LeBlanc, Maurice - An Arséne Lupin Omnibus

Lee, Mackenzi - The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

Mandel, Emily St. John - Station Eleven

McKillip, Patricia - Alphabet of Thorn

McKillip, Patricia - Od Magic

McKillip, Patricia - Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy

McKillip, Patricia - Winter Rose

Melvile, Herman - Moby-Dick

Mitchel, David - Cloud Atlas

Poe, Edgar Allan - Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Shannon, Samatha - The Priory of the Orange Tree

Taylor, Laini - Strange the Dreamer

Yeats, W.B. - Collected Poems

Zweig, Stefan - A Game of Chess and Other Stories

Translated in portuguese:

Bradbury, Ray - Algo Maligno Vem Aí

Branco, Camilo Castelo - A Queda d'um Anjo

Bronte, Charlotte - Shirley

Dinis, Júlio - Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca

Flaubert, Gustave - Madame Bovary

Garret, Almeida - O Arco de Sant'Ana

Gaiman, Neil - Os Filhos de Anansi

Harris, Joanne - O Feitiço da Lua Azul

Harris, Joanne - Um Gato, Um Chapéu e um Pedaço de Cordel

Herculano, Alexandre - O Bobo

Hugo, Victor - Nossa Senhora de Paris

Ishiguro, Kazuo - Os Despojos do Dia

Ishiguro, Kazuo - Klara e o Sol

Jansson - O Cometa na Terra dos Mumins

Kawaguchi, Toshikazu - Antes que o Café Arrefeça

Kawamura, Genki - Se os Gatos Desaparecessem do Mundo

Larsson, Stieg - Os Homens que Odeiam as Mulheres

Larsson, Stieg - A Rapariga que Sonhava com uma lata de Gasolina e um Fósforo

Larsson, Stieg - A Rainha no Palácio das Correntes de Ar

Lispector, Clarice - Todos os Contos

Macneal, Elizabeth - A Fábrica de Bonecas

Marillier, Juliet - A Filha da Profecia

Marillier, Juliet - Shadowfell

Marillier, Juliet - O Lago dos Sonhos

Marillier, Juliet - O Espelho Negro

Marillier, Juliet - A Espada de Fortriu

Marillier, Juliet - O Poço das Sombras

Maurier, Daphne - O Outro Eu

Queirós, Eça - A Ilustre Casa de Ramires

Shannon, Samantha - A Estação dos Ossos

Slaughter, Karin - A Boa Filha

Slaughter, Karin - Sabes Quem É?

[rndyounghowze]

And The Nominees Are… (Part 2/2)

#younghowzetheatreawards

By Ricky and Dana Young-Howze

Mays Landing, NJ

Venmo: @rndyounghowze

The nominations for the first ever Young-Howze Theatre Awards are finally here! We have been working hard since March of 2020 reviewing over a hundred and forty digital productions. We have been poring over them all since January to bring you these categories and the shows vying for them.

Let’s remind everyone what our criteria were: Because of the pandemic this year every show that we have reviewed was nominated for at least one category. We picked winners by a very specific set of criteria: What was this show attempting to do? Was it successful? Was it the most successful of all the shows that tried to do this? We apologize to anyone who thought that we would be announcing winners today. We decided that we wanted to save all of the spoilers for the live show on February 21st at 8PM EST. Please remember that even if you only get one nomination it is because we wanted to honor everyone who worked hard this year (every theatre artist who did a show this year deserves a medal). However we understand that specific nominations are useful for theatre creators in their resumes, grant applications etc.

All Nominees should receive a nomination email from us. If you haven’t gotten an email by Monday 11:59pm PST email is at rndyounghowze@gmail.com

Congratulations everyone! We are so proud of your accomplishments and amazing work. We’ve already seen shows this year that are award worthy. You all exceeded our expectations. Without further ado...

Solo Performance

“Chewie Award” For Team Behind A Solo Performance

“Blood/Sugar” by Diana Wyenn in Los Angeles, CA

“Kristina Wong For Public Office” by Kristina Wong in Los Angeles, CA

“Disenchanted: A Cabaret of Twisted Fairy Tales” by Eliane Morel at Melbourne Fringe

“All By Myself Award” For Solo Performance Of The Year

“The Bassoonist” by Sean P. Mette and Autumn Kaleidoscope at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Kristina Wong For Public Office” by Kristina Wong in Los Angeles, CA

“Sarah Palin: Rogue None” by Amanda Nicastro in NYC, NY

“What Would John Hughes Do?” by Telia Nevile at Melbourne Fringe

“Campfire Award” For Storyteller Of The Year

“Right Now” By Martin Dockery at Minnesota Fringe Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Life Underground” by Brad Lawrence at FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

“Pumpkin Pie Show” by Pumpkin Pie Show at FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

“UnterClub” by Juan Sebastian Peralta in Uruguay

“Full of Woe” by Genevieve Yosco and Sour Grapes Productions at FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

Seasons, Series and Festivals

“BIPOC HERO” For The BIPOC Creative Team Of The Year

TBA

“Worldwide Award” For Collaborative Work Of The Year

“The Art of Facing Fear Brazil” By Os Satyros in São Paulo, Brazil “The Art of Facing Fear US” Os Satyros and Company of Angels and Rob Lecrone, in co-production with Os Satyros and Darling Desperados. “The Art of Facing Fear Africa/Europe” Os Satyros and Cie Kaddu, Crown Troupe of Africa, Darling Desperados, Oddmanout Theatre Company, Portuguese Cultural Center of Mindelo, Tell-a-Tale, The Kwasha! Theatre Company, The Market Theatre Laboratory, Village Gossip Productions

“Macbeth #6” Os Satyros São Paulo, Brazil and the Center for Interdisciplinary Performance Art - Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Enough Plays to End Gun Violence at Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken, NJ

“Down the Stream” For Digital Season of The Year

Frigid NY in NYC, NY

Combined Artform in Los Angeles, CA

“There’s No I in Theatre” For Non-Profit Theatre of The Year

Elm Street Cultural Arts Village in Woodstock, GA

Sour Grapes Productions in NYC, NY

Opal Theatre in Boise, Idaho

Know Theatre of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH

Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, VA

“Deja Vu Award” Recurring Streaming Series Of The Year

“Tilted Frame” by Combined Artform in Los Angeles, CA

“Bingewatch and Friends” by Diana Brown and Dan Wilson in San Francisco, CA

“Reparations Show” by Kevin R Free at Frigid NY in NYC, NY

“Monologues For Us By Us” By Cincinnati Black Theatre Artists Collective in Cincinnati, Ohio

“Bard Brunch” by Sour Grapes Productions in NYC, NY

“On The Fringes” Fringe of the Year

Minnesota Fringe

Halifax Fringe

Melbourne Fringe

Montreal Fringe

Cincinnati Fringe

“The Shortie“ Short Form Festival Of The Year

“48 Hours in Harlem” By Harlem 9 in Harlem, NY

“Overnight Sensations” by Hollins Playwrights Lab in Roanoke, VA

Estrogenius Festival by FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

Fire This Time Festival at FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

Single Shows

“Weird and Worth It” For Experimental Production Of The Year

“Paul And Erika’s House Show” By Theatre Mobile at Cincinnati Fringe

“Hivemind” by Solasta Theatre at Cincinnati Fringe

“#TXT Show” by Brian Feldman at Minnesota Fringe and Melbourne Fringe

“Butterfly Effect” by Unnatural Disasters at Halifax Fringe

“New Normal” by Os Satyros in São Paulo, Brazil

“One Man Nutcracker” by Chris Davis in Philadelphia, PA

“Cabaret De Profundis” By Buntport Theatre in Denver, CO

“So Nice We Saw It Twice” Touring Show Of The Year

“Desperately Seeking The Exit” by Peter Michael Marino and PM2 at Cincinnati Fringe And Queerly Festival and Show Up, Kids! In NYC!

“Paul and Erika’s House Show” by Theatre Mobile at Cincinnati Fringe and Minnesota Fringe

“Love and Other Lures” by Dr. Dour and Peach at Cincinnati Fringe and Minnesota Fringe

“Killjoy, Ohio” by Queen City Flash at Cincinnati Fringe and Minnesota Fringe

“TXT Show By Brian Feldman at Minnesota Fringe and Melbourne Fringe

“Kristina Wong For Public Office” by Kristina Wong in Koreatown and Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, CA

“Before Times” For Pre-Pandemic Recording Of The Year

“Petunia and Chicken” by Animal Engine at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Unrepentant Necrophile” by The ColdHarts at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Knife Slingin’” By Motz at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Occupy This!” By Rev Nuge at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Stow You Baggage” By Alexx Rouse at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Butcher Holler” by Ad Hoc Economy at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Lady Macbeth and Her Pal Megan” by Megan Gogerty at Cincinnati Fringe Festival Cincinnati, OH

“Dammit, Jim!” by Polly Esther in Toronto, CA

“A Night With The Dead” by Martha Preve and Something From Abroad at Hartford Fringe in FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

“A Christmas Carol In Harlem” by Classical Theatre of Harlem in NYC, NY

“Forbidden City” by Martin Dockery at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Practical Game Changer” For Practical Effects Of The Year

“Killjoy, Ohio” by Queen City Flash at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Zoo Motel” By Thaddeus Phillips in Columbia, South America

“A Light Touch” by Mind of a Snail at Minnesota Fringe Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Digital Game Changer” For Digital Effects Of The Year

“M-O-U-S-E” by Rory Sheridan at the Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“King Lear” by SF Shakes in San Francisco, CA

“War Of The Worlds” by Ben Hernandez at Cal State in Los Angeles, CA

“Claws Out! A Holiday Drag Musical” by City Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA

“18+ Allowed” For Adult Variety Of The Year

“Disenchanted: A Cabaret of Twisted Fairy Tales” by Eliane Morel at Melbourne Fringe

“Creepy Boys” by Scantily Glad at Melbourne Fringe

Red Mill Revue at Melbourne Fringe

Queers On The Fringe at Melbourne Fringe

“Reach Out“ For Immersive Production Of The Year

“Feast” by Megan Gogerty at Know Theatre of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH

“In Lak’Ech” by No Peeking Theatre in Jersey City, NJ

“Twelfth Night”” by Food of Love Productions in NYC, NY

“Grace Notes” For Musical Production Of The Year

“Dream &” By Sarah Willis and The Queer Feminists Next Door at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Colony” by Psophonia and Aura at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“TV Tunes” by Leslie Vincent at Minnesota Fringe Minneapolis, Minnesota

“The In-Between Years” By The Champagne Drops in Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Love and Other Lures” By Dr. Dour and Peach at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Hollow” by David Kent at Edinburgh Fringe

“One Vote Won” by Nashville Opera in Nashville, TN

“Meet Me In St. Louis” By Irish Rep in NYC, NY

“Power” For Fifth-Wall Breaking Show Of The Year

“Matriarch” by Sandy Greenwood at Melbourne Fringe

Chanukahmunication by the Feldman Dynamic in Washington, DC

“Proof Of Love” By Chisa Hutchinson and BLBW in Chicago, IL

Individuals

“Magician” For Press Contact Of The Year

Emily Godfrey For FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

Liz Carman For Know Theatre of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH

“Tech Witch” For Tech Person Of The Year

David Svengalis for “Tilted Frame” by Combined Artform in Los Angeles, CA

Henry Bateman for Know Theatre of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH

“Extensions“ For Movement Artist Of The Year

“Proximity” by Pones at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Definition of Man” by DConstruction Arts at Halifax Fringe

Marina Calendar For Tree She at Estrogenius Festival NYC, NY

Nick Daniels For “Folk Dances of A Nucleic Village” at Pittsburgh Fringe Pittsburgh, PA

“You Oughta Be In Pictures” For Film Of The Year

“Proximity” by Pones at Cincinnati Fringe

“Opinions Of Men” by Ben Dudley at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Macbeth” by Gorilla Repertory Theatre in NYC, NY

“Black Emperor of Broadway” by Vision Films Inc and Egeli Productions in Provincetown, MA

“Concord Floral” by Jordan Tamanelli at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado

Zoom

“Pioneer” For Innovative Achievement Of The Year

Waiting for the Host” by Mark Palmieri in NYC, NY

“Desperately Seeking the Exit” by Peter Michael Marino in NYC, NY

“Long Zoomie” For Long-Form Zoom Play Of The Year

“3 Way Lovve” by Marcus Ma’at Atkins at Minnesota Fringe Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Im Ur Hamlet” By Genevieve Yosco and Sour Grapes Productions in NYC, NY

“Rideshare” by Reginald Edmund and BLBW in Chicago, Illinois

“Disrobed” by Steven Vlasak and Troy Peterson at Hollywood Fringe Hollywood, CA

“Sons of Liberty” by Cris Eli Blak in Louisville, KY

“Call For The Wailing Women” by Katrina D. RiChard and BLBW in Chicago, IL

“Jump!” By Charly Evon Simpson at TSU in Nashville, TN

“Short Zoomie” For Short-Form Zoom Play Of The Year

“Soup” by Rachel Carnez at Project Y Theatre in NYC, NY

“Missing Ingredient” by Colleen O’Doherty at Project Y Theatre in NYC, NY

“Pas De Deux” by Kevin Ferguson at Missouri S&T in St. Louis, Missouri

“Scaramouche and Pinochle” by Mike Moran Missouri S&T in St. Louis, Missouri

Screen Manager Of The Year

TBA

Stream Yard

“Duck“ For Streamyard Production Of The Year

“Infemous” by Infemous at the Queerly Festival and Montreal Fringe Festival

“Romeo and Juliet Virtually” By Miles Beyond Entertainment in Los Angeles, CA

“Day of the Dead Variety Show” by Something From Abroad at FRIGID NY in NYC, NY

“Latina Christmas Special Special” by Latina Christmas Special in Los Angeles, CA

Staged Production

“The Globe“ For Staged Production of The Year

“Quit While You’re Ahead” By Alexx Rouse and A-Z Productions at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Dreary Dearie” By Caitlyn Waltermire at Cincinnati Fringe Cincinnati, OH

“Hellish Reunion” by The Feral Theatre Company at Minnesota Fringe Minneapolis, Minnesota

“Polka Dots: The Cool Kids Musical” by Melvin Tunstall III at Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, VA

“Titus Andronicus” by Shakespeare by the Sea in San Pedro, CA

“She Kills Monsters” by Qui Nguyen at Elm Street Arts Cultural Village in Woodstock, GA

Please Be Sure To Tune In To The Live Show on either our YouTube Channel, FRIGID NY’s YouTube, or you can go to Combined Artform’s Channel. Also follow their Facebook pages for live updates. Our social media will be taken over before and during the show by Saturday Lawson of Punchline Loading and Genevieve Yosco of Sour Grapes Productions! We can’t wait to see you there!

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[littlemisssquiggles]

I love your blog, and i love how you go in depth with your content. Can i ask: Why do you love RoseGarden so much? What made you start shipping Ruby and Oscar so hard (From a fellow Rosegarden shipper to another)?

Hiya Sparrow. Thank you bunches for enjoying my RWBY content, fam. Means a lot. Why do I love Rosegarden so much? Whelp, to ask myself why I’m a bonafide Rosegardener is like asking me why I’m proud Pinehead whose favourite RWBY character is the precious freckled farm boy turned little barn prince XD

I guess I can start off my answer by explaining how I started shipping Rosegarden in the first place.

Unlike other gardeners who were shipping our two smaller, more honest souls from as early as Oscar’s introduction back in RWBYV4, this squiggle meister didn’t until Oscar met Ruby in V5. I didn’t even know about Rosegarden until that season. The way how Oscar looked at Ruby from the moment he first laid eyes on her—his expression of sheer awe of her; his little ‘whoa’ as he stepped forward and said the infamous ‘You have silver eyes’ line— that was the hook that got me intrigued by this ship. That’s how the CRWBY got me. 

Up until that point in the series, I always felt as if Ruby was omitted having any potential romantic relationships between herself and other characters. I’d like to think that part of the rationale for that was due to our little red rose being the youngest of the main cast and at Beacon as well. While we’ve seen the other RWBY girls catch the attention of probable suitors—y’know for Weiss, it was Jaune, Neptune and to some extent Henry Marigold. With Blake, it was her previous messy relationship with Adam followed up by Sun and later Ilia. Not to mention her and Yang being paired together.

There hasn’t been anyone shown to look at Ruby in such an alluring way. No prospective gentlemen or lady callers ever came a knocking at Ruby’s door. At least not until Oscar entered the picture.

From my perspective, Oscar is the first character I’ve seen give Ruby that look—the look that clearly tells the audience that “Yup, this character definitely has a crush on our little red rose and will probably fall head over heels in love with her at some point down the line when the timing is appropriate”.

That’s what made me like Rosegarden. I like Oscar a lot as character and seeing him take an interest in Ruby was a refreshing sight for me, not to mention adorable. Oscar’s little mini-stroke after Ruby first smiled and giggled at him in V5 will always bring a smile to my face whenever I see it. It’s such a cute wholesome moment. So yeah, like I said, that’s what made me first intrigued by the Rosegarden pair. However I didn’t completely fall in love with the ship until I observed all the interactions between these two kids that followed afterwards.

Watching Ruby look out for Oscar during the events of V5 made me appreciate her a lot more as a character. From Ruby’s time with Oscar, it’s hard to believe that this was the same introverted young girl who once told her big sister Yang that she didn’t really need to make friends. 

Ruby has come such a long way since her Beacon Days so it was really nice watching her doing everything she could to chum up to Oscar and ensure that he was comfortable being with the group. I’d like to believe that part of the reason Ruby took an interest in Oscar is because she saw a lot of herself in him; y’know what I’m saying? Ruby more than anyone within the hero team understands what Oscar is currently going through—being the youngest member amongst at team of people working together to protect humanity and save the world from the forces of evil. On top of that, Ruby knows what it’s like having to work harder to prove yourself as a worthy asset to the team rather than a liability.

Ruby relates to Oscar so much since she’s been in his shoes before. Heck she’s still in those shoes. That’s another reason why I like these two. They have quite a few things in common. Not only are Ruby and Oscar the babies of the hero team  but they both share in the burden of responsibility that’s been thrusted into their laps. 

Both share the badge of leadership—Oscar for being the successor to Ozpin who was originally the voice of wisdom and Ruby as the unquantifiable spark that keeps everyone moving forward, even when she might not have all the answers or know better when it comes to her own actions.

But beyond even this, Ruby and Oscar are the only two people within their team who share in the God of Light’s power. As a descendant of Ozma, Oscar has inherited his magic—the Gods’ gift to humanity—and has the potential to unlock it and make use of it when the PLOT decides he’s ready to become a Wizard of Light. 

Not to mention that the God of Lights’ power has been what has kept the Ozma Reincarnation Cycle going for so many centuries and that power is what courses through Oscar’s veins. Same for Ruby. Ruby is a Silver Eyed Warrior and while the true origins of these warriors are still an enigma, what we do know is that the Silver Eyes originated from the God of Light just like the Ozma Cycle. 

Rosegarden is a bond that has the potential to be a really strong friendship built on trust just as much as it has the golden chance to become a romance and loving relationship that feels like it was a match made by Gods themselves. A part of me would like to believe that romance will be in the cards for Ruby and Oscar. There are one or two noteworthy signs that hints that this is a strongpossibility to me.

First there is the connection to the Little Prince. You’ve probably noticed meaddress Oscar as the little barn prince a lot. That’s because many Pineheads believe that part of Oscar’s character and story os being influenced by that fairy-tale. And in the Little Prince story, his one true love was a single red rose that the prince met firstly on his planet. 

Part of the Prince’s journey was him learning to realize that he is responsible for his rose because according to the lesson that the Prince learnt from the Fox,it doesn’t matter if the Prince discovered many other beautiful roses or flowers in his travels, the Rose back on his home world was his one true rose and the one that was most unique to him in all the universe.

It is for this reason why most of us gardeners are banking on Oscar ultimately falling in love with Ruby.She will be his one true rose. The girl Oscar loves and sees himself as responsible for by providing her his support.

Despite only knowing each other shortly, Ruby and Oscar have been shown to care about each other a lot these past few seasons as evidenced by the way they support one another.

Then there is the connection to Lost Fable. A couple of RWBY theorists; myself included, are under the impression that Oscar and Ruby will parallel Ozma and Salem since the two share elements to their character that reflect the Fairy-tale pair. If you would to read my more in depth thoughts on that, check out this musing post of mine. Rosegarden do share elements to them in common with Fairy-tale. The only difference is the prospect of Rosegarden having a happier ending than Fairy-tale. 

 And yeah, that’s pretty much why I love Rosegarden. I know Ruby and Oscar have other ships but for me, their pair is the most interesting one. These two complement each other a lot and although the series hasn’t shown them talking one on one since V5, each time these two do interact it feels so genuine and…right.Overall I’m excited to see what becomes of this pair’s relationship over the course of the show. 

Some folks believe that Rosegarden may be a slow burn ship and I’d like agree with them. If romance is indeed in the cards for these two then the last thing I’d want is for the PLOT to rush it (or introduce it sloppily as I’ve noticed it do with certain other ships). I do, however, still have a feeling that this volume may light the match to Ruby and Oscar ultimately falling for one another by having them learn to trust each other first. 

Afterall, love and trusting in love seems to be the theme for V7. And in regards to our budding rosebuds, learning to trust in each other completely will open the door to them learning to love each other. First as friends and then as something so much more. 

 ~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

[pacifistofpatience]

this may be the most self indulgent thing I've ever asked, but what sort of weddings would each of the skeletons want?

((ANON TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MONSTER YOU CREATED!!)

Elop-ish—Papyrus, Red, Rus, Pappy

Quite one/family and friends thing—Sky,Sans, Boss, Jupiter, Mars

Big Party!!—Black

And on top of that:

Mix and match- Jupiter, Sky, Pappy, Mars, Boss

More monster centered- Black, Rus, Sans

More human centered- Red, Papyrus

AND ANOTHER (This is more of an afterthought):

More likely to be running around talking with others (Within Reason! Of course!): Mars, Sky

Stays by your side the entire time: Black, Sans, Pappy, Red

Follows you around: Rus, Jupiter

Drags you with him: Boss, Papyrus

Below the cut is a very long post along with outfits depending on weather you’re a dress or suit wearing Human

Undertale

Is Papyrus gonna be there? Awesome. Oh shoot wait how about Tori? She’d love it. Well if we’re gonna invite them then we gotta invite Undyin and Alphys and… Sans started out thinking it would be a quiet little thing until he remembered that he actually… has a good amount of friends that would be pretty sad (Or hell bent on beating him up) if they didn’t get invited to the wedding. A lot of the planning going to be left up to his S/O with his little additions here and there that… don’t quite make it an actual wedding but somehow make it feel like the best day of their lives. Honestly, during the entire planning session you’d think he didn’t doanything, but then he comes out actually looking nice for once in his life and (if they’re doing them) with his own, tear inducing, vows that it hits his S/O just how much they love him.

Songs you could dance to: Can’t help Falling In love with you – Elvis/ Fast Car - tracy chapman

 Impulsive to a fault Papyrus falls hard and fast. It’s not that his emotions are any less genuine because of how quickly he moves, it’s just that sometimes he needs to take a step back and think of what his S/O wants before he jumps on the old marriage wagon. If he had it his way, the two of them would be married five months in and already living that blissful married life. But, given the chance to plan out the wedding, Papyrus would love to experience a human marriage first hand! He’s been to plenty of monster ones! And knows the steps well enough that you two can have your own one at a later date!

Songs you could dance to: Lucky - Jason Mraz / Earth, Wind & Fire - September

 Underswap: 

Sky has the wedding planned out long before he proposes. He’s probably been dropping little hints here and there, asking what colors his S/O would love to have for a party. Would they prefer an indoor or outdoor one? At some point they’re going to think he’s planning a surprise party for them… or… something? His S/O will be unsure of what it is until he’s finally popping the question! And then it’s a whirlwind of planning and sending out invitations as both of them rush to get married (Which is part of the reason why he had it planned out so far in advanced!) Thankfully! Sky is very much flexible and willing to work with his S/O to make this the perfect wedding! And, while you guys are at it, how about you pick and choose some of the fun monster and humans’ bits!

Songs you could dance to: I’m Yours – Jason Mraz/ Ed Sheeran - Photograph

 Pappys a sweetheart, and he loves his S/O dearly…but…maybe they could do something with less people? Maybe even something with no people. Pappy is not good with the whole ‘get married in front of a crowd of people judging him’ and, stars, if he’s going to pour his (nonexistent) heart and (very much anxious) soul out to his S/O he’s going to need the peace. More than anything he’d rather jump into the heat of the moment and marry you in some far off place somewhere with a nice view (both outside and right next to him) and just… somewhere he can just outright tell his S/O how much they really mean to him. Of course, he knows that it’s a lot to ask of someone, so he’s willing to work around his insecurities in order to make it the perfect day for the both of them. Or, if yhis S/O is willing, he’d be happy to do the whole party marriage thing and than on their honeymoon have a small, Two person affair.

Songs you could dance to: Iris – Goo Goo Dolls/ Marry Me- Train/ Poet – Bastille

 Underfell: 

The moment Red decides that his S/O is the one is the moment he knows he’s jumping all in. And that means he needs to act now, before he chickens out (like he did the last three, four, five times) He didn’t mean for it to happen like it does, but you two are probably on vacation or something and he spots a ceremony happening and just, suggests it offhand (in that totally not joking tone) and the second his S/O seems down with it is the second he’s yanking them along and thinking that as long as he can get the ring on quick enough there’s no way they can call takeies backies. (one thing he would be adamant about though is having a Elvis impersonator there, he doesn’t care what for he just needs)

Songs you could dance to: Honeybee – Steam Powered Giraffe/ Safe and Sound - civil wars/ Take Me To church – Hozier/

 Boss Is actually… Pretty quiet about the whole affair. After he asks he spends almost all his time quietly planning everything out as soon as he possibly can, its not nerves that have him, but theres a buzzing, giddy, energy thrumming in him that if he doesn’t use for something he’ll probably end up bursting! That goes all the way up until the big day, where he’s there and his just sees his S/O and crashes, Error 404 Boss not working. Its like the wave of what he now knows was anxiety just dispersed the moment he saw them there, real and solid and undoubtedly his (Because sometimes he was worried that at any moment they could change their mind, any second they could see him as he sees himself and just… just leave… and stars he cant deal with that)  But then his S/O is there, and getting married and spending the rest of their life with him because his S/O loves him and… And he’s so in love! During the end of the night there’s going to be that one big kiss where he ends up sweeping his S/O off their feet and just… never puts them down. Then for the rest of the party he’s just there holding them in his arms shoving them in everyone’s face because “LOOK! LOOK! THIS IS MY BEAUTIFUL AND STUNNING WIFE/HUSBANDS/PARTNER AND THEYRE MINE!”

Songs you could dance to: I’ll Be - Edwin McCain/ Shallows – lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

 Swapfell: 

For Black, it’s less of a party and more of a “invite everyone I can so that they know this amazing and stunning person officially MINE’ thing. He’s going to invite every monster, he’s going to get your family there, and, if you don’t stop him, hell invite all your Exs too just to rub it in their noses that he’s the one you  choose to spend the rest of your life with! Which may also make it more of a monster-oriented wedding, where you both have a collar to give to the other instead of the traditional wedding rings. A good amount of the wedding is him putting of a calm of easy front when hes pratcally just brimming with energy underneath, because their his, because he loves them so gosh darn much, because their wearing his collar and the restrain he’s using not to jump them right there is killing him.

Songs you could dance to: Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley/ I See the Light – Rapunzel ,

 Rus  doesn’t mean for the marriage to be sudden. Heck he probably would love to have something big and smoopy where he can proclaim to everyone just how much he loves his S/O, but the impulsiveness kicks in and… well Black had always been most of his self-restraint. His S/Os going to have to rein him in so that they can have a proper wedding like he wants! And Rus likes a little familiarity, so he’d prefer a monster wedding to a human one, especially because he desperately wants to see his S/O in the collar he picked out for them! (And stars he’s getting weak thinking about the collar they have for him as well!)

Songs you could dance to: Perfect – Ed Sheeren/ Die A Happy Man - Thomas Rhett

 Horrortale: 

Jupiter, ever the sweetheart, would probably have something for just the two of you if he could (Or, like, a lazy movie night that ended with you guys saying your vows and that’s it) but after a little while on the surface he started to come out of his shell again… and gained a few friends (Both old and New) that would be really sad if he just came back on day announcing he’s was married to one of the greatest S/O’s in the world without them knowing! So! With the help of the greatest little bro in the world! You guys set up a nice little backyard wedding (Or anywhere in an opened field) where you guys can celebrate however you want to!

Songs you could dance to: Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeren/ Blackbird – The Beatles  

With Mars you never have to worry about planning! He’s going to be the one making calls and setting up dates and sending out invitations all on his own! And sure maybe he’ll burn himself out a little but he’s riding high enough that he cant tell! Just to make sure he doesn’t wear himself out  his S/O will have to sneak their way into his very tight planning regime to make sure, and the best way to do that is to just… give their opinion. The second Mars hears his S/O’s input he’s already making room for them to help! And, while Mars is very much a practical monster, wouldn’t it be nice to have a… sort of fairy tale wedding? It doesn’t have to be all out there but… he would love to have something sort of… Mystical about it! Because, by the stars, does he feel like a miracle happened when his S/O agreed to marry him!

Songs you could dance to: Bubbly - Colbie Caillat/ You Are in love -Taylor Swift / Laughter Lines – Bastille

[maddiesfandommess]

Hi, would you recommend reading the Shadowhunters books if I’ve seen the tv series?

Yes absolutely, personally I love both but have a preference for the books.

For reading order I'd recommend that you read The Infernal Devices first. It will take you out a bit because the show os based on The Mortal Instruments but there are some things that go on in this series that connect with TMI, plus it comes first chronologically.

The Infernal Devices (Set in 1878 in London, it follows Tessa Gray, Will Herondale, and James Carstairs as they try to figure out Tessa's mysterious shapeshifting abilities) - Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess

The Mortal Instruments (You already know this one, if follows Clary Fray in 2007 New York as she finds out that she's not an ordinary human but a shadowhunter) - City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire

After this you get a break from the novels to read a bunch of short stories.

Bane Chronicles (Pretty self explanatory, this covers Magnus' adventures), I would also recommend going on Cassie's website and reading kissed, the story of Magnus and Alec's first kiss

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy - I actually can't give a summary for this one without spoiling TMI

The Dark Artifices (Set in 2012 L.A. Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstiars deal with the affects of a decision made at the end of TMI and the consequences of their decision to become parabati) - Lady Midnight, Lord of Shadows, Queen of Air and Darkness

Another short story break as you read Ghost of the shadow market and the 10 free novellas about The Last Hours characters

With the Last Hours and The Eldest Curses just read them as they come out, since both of those books start this year

The Eldest Curses (This is set in many different places in a few different years. It takes place during City of Fallen Angels, After Born into Endless night, and after Queen of Air and Darkness. This is Magnus and Alec's story) - Red Scrolls of Magic, Black Book of the Dead, Lost Book of White

The Last Hours (This is set in 1903, in London and Paris and deals with the kids of TID characters) - Chain of Gold, Chain of Irom, Chain of Thorns

After that is The Wicked Powers, all we know about it is that it's the last series and it's set to be released in 2021/2022, and it deals with the consequences of events in TDA

I'm sorry this is so long I hope it helps

[kulturformidlet]

Klimakrise og ligestilling i Sherwood

Denne anmeldelse blev oprindeligt publiceret på teateravisen.dk Mange ting har ændret sig i Sherwoodskoven, men helt i Eventyrteatrets ånd er Robin Hood en flot, musikalsk opsætning fyldt med talentfulde børn på scenen. Den woke modernisering af det gamle folkesagn bliver til tider for søgt og favner for bredt, men andre aspekter fungerer glimrende; Ikke mindst musikken og de onde er en fest! Eventyrteatrets længe ventede Robin Hood-forestilling (aflyst sidste år pga. corona) har netop haft premiere. Det er fast tradition med en ny familiemusical fra deres hånd hvert efterår op til skolernes efterårsferie, og i år er der intet mindre end 30 års jubilæum.

Stykkets mange amatør-børneskuespillere tager flot imod os, imens vi går fra Tivolis indgang ned mod Glassalen i den gamle have. Det er effektfuldt, som de står der i fuld make-up og byder os velkommen til Sherwood, og allerede her er min lille syv-årige ledsager behørigt imponeret.

At man ligeledes kan komme helt tæt på i pausen udenfor, har på samme måde stor attraktionsværdi, og man fornemmer tydeligt glæden ved at optræde hos de medvirkende.

Sherwoodskoven er ikke den samme

Ligesom Folketeatrets opsætning af 'Robin Hood' sidste år (se anmeldelse, red.) er der her igen tale om en vældig kæk modernisering af det gamle folkesagn. Det bliver til tider for søgt med Gunvor Reynbergs mange woke ligestillings-omskrivninger, men andre elementer fungerer glimrende. Bl.a. de mange referencer fra alt til 'Star Wars' og Donald Trump undervejs er et kærkomment nik til det voksne publikum, og frem for alt må både musik og kostumer fremhæves.

’Alice i Eventyrland møder Robin Hood’ er første tanke, da det står klart, hvor eventyrlig skoven er blevet befolket. Middelalderen møder i hvert fald fantasy-genren. Kostumier Christine Brincker har fantasifuldt kreeret de smukkeste, mest farverige dragter til skovens insektlignende væsener, kaldet Sprites, der kommunikerer med kliklyde og tilmed har lys i deres hovedudsmykninger, så de også – helt poetisk – lyser op i dansende formationer, når mørket omslutter dem. 

For også denne 'Robin Hood' er trods alt en historie om det gode mod det onde.  Med til at give dette aspekt ekstra pondus er glitrende fe-lignende druider i skoven, der ikke blot lever i pagt med naturen, men også, med tanke på ikke mindst 'Ringenes Herre', har imponerende overnaturlige kræfter.

De hvide, smukke druider vil kun alt godt i verden, og bliver nemt lidt kønsløse. Anderledes smæk for skillingen er der hos de sortklædte druider, der er så onde, at det driver ned ad klippehulevæggene med grøn, giftig tåge. Klima-referencerne ligger lige for, så udover Nottinghams borgere, Lady Marian m.v. er vi nu også ude i, at naturen skal reddes.

De onde stjæler rampelyset

Uretfærdighederne fra den sadistiske sherif og den pengegriske Prins John er som altid helt uhørte, og de spiller begge så overbevisende, at de mindste publikummer gyser i sæderne. Førstnævnte ligner Kaptajn Klo fra Disneys 'Peter Pan' på en prik med sin lilla jakke og det lange sorte hår, som han skridter rundt i lange sorte støvler. Med sine mænd skaber han rædsel blandt Nottinghams fattige, og salen hujer triumferende når en velanrettet pil i rumpen giver disse griske skatteopkrævere, hvad de har godt af. Falden-på-halen komik er der nok af, og det rammer aldeles plet hos målgruppen.

Samuel Traum som Prins John er et decideret scoop, og en man må forvente at se mere til. Som en anden Nik eller Jay, med hovedet på skrå og godt med attitude stiger han op ad scenegulvet med ordene; ’Denne her går ud til alle jer, der fatter hvad det hele handler om’ inden han lægger salen ned med en selvfed rap i bedste west coast-stil, om hvor sej han er, og hvor mange penge han har.

Det er en omskrivning af Fort Minor’s ’Remember the Name’ nu med ’100% superpower-prins, der sparker røv’. At denne skamløse selvpromovering også dækker over et vældig lavt selvværd, er endnu en fin krølle på figuren, der på mange måder stjæler showet.

Det swinger

I andre af de musikalske indslag er vi ude i trommende Safri Duo-dance med electric boogie på scenen, så det hele svinger ned til bagerste række. Referencer til gamle slagere og tekstbidder fra diverse popnumre sættes sammen på ny.

De ondes sang til slut vækker latter, som de lover os, at de er gode nok på bunden og ’er startet til psykolog’. Rå rockguitar-riff’s akkompagnerer Lady Marians duet med vores mandlige Robin Hood – mere moderne er stykket trods alt ikke, om end det er hende, der ender med at fri.

Robin Hood har skiftet køn

Og det er en anden betragtelig omskrivning, man bliver nødt til at nævne. Vores fredløse bueskytte-hovedperson, der tager fra de rige og giver til de fattige, er nemlig i denne udgave af hunkøn og hedder Rosalinde. Hun kalder sig bare Robin, fordi det er nemmere at få respekt som dreng(!) og for at mindes sin afdøde storebror – korsridderen Robin af Locksley.

Da han vender tilbage og viser sig ikke at være omkommet, skaber det selvfølgelig en del forvirring og forvikling, og vi har følgelig hele to Robin Hood-helte, der sammen må kæmpe for at få retfærdigheden til at ske fyldest.

Trods sangtekster om ’at være lige uanset om vi er dreng eller pige’, kommer der aldrig rigtigt skub i hverken parløb eller rivalisering imellem denne bror og søster Hood. Der er langt mere på spil i druide-søstrenes kamp på godt og ondt, for slet ikke at nævne originalens brødre-fight imellem Prins John og Kong Løvehjerte, som vi desværre kun får en flig af i denne opsætning.

Den noble bestræbelse på at sætte både klimakrise og ligestilling på dagsordenen i en familiemusical, rummes desværre ikke så godt i fortællingen, der vil for meget og får for lidt ud af konflikterne i sit glimrende forlæg. Det er de farverige skurke og de velskruede musikindslag, der gør aftenen til et hit.

For tag ikke fejl; min lille ledsager er høj på lykke, da vi cykler hjem og bliver til græskar igen.

Af: Gudrun Hagen FAKTA Eventyrteatret: Robin Hood - Manuskript: Gunvor Reynberg. Instruktør: Bo Skødebjerg. Musik: Christian Dahlberg. Kostumer: Christine Brincker. Scenograf: Kirsten Brink. Koreograf: Tara Toya. Medvirkende: Rosa Olsen, Jacob Spang Olsen, Ella Kring Henriksen, Line Hersløv, Iris Mealor, Julia Bircow, Sophia Bircow, Nanna Giversen, Samuel Traum m.fl. Varighed: Ca. 2 timer inkl. 20 min. pause. Aldersgrænse: Fra 5 år. Spilleperiode: 9.-24. oktober 2021. Set til forpremieren 8. oktober 2021 i Glassalen i Tivoli, hvor den bortset fra 18.10 spiller hele efterårsferien fra 16.-24. oktober med to daglige forestillinger.   https://www.eventyrteatret.dk/forestillinger/robin-hood***(Teateravisen anmelder ekstraordinært Eventyrteatret forestilling i anledning af teatrets 30 års-jubilæum, red.)

[pumaskulls]

Today's theme for reference updates was apparently "punkass teenagers"

[erythristicbones]

been sittin' on this excerpt awhile

[booksfriendsnews]

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[constelacionde-orion]

Every you Every me (6/?)

Pairing : Tony!Father x Reader!Daughter x Steve x Avengers 

Warnings: swearing, angst, memories, there’s a little fluff so idk(? Summary: You are Tony’s daughter, everything was normal until you recall your past in your nightmares.

A/N : THIS IS STEVE’S POINT OF VIEW, and I know, grammar ….

Word Count: 3471

Chapter 1  Chapter 2.1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 7  Chapter 8  Chapter 9 Chapter 10  Chapter 11 Chapter 12  Chapter 13  Chapter 14

“Steve, just stop!” I heard Bucky’s voice behind me.

I kept punching the bag in front of me, one, two, three times, over and over again. Every damn punch was for the reflection of myself, it was like fighting against me, I wanted to go back in time and make everything right.  

Punch after punch I saw the hours ago, just two and a half hours ago. She was alive, she was warm, her skin was tanned with the few sunlight from winter and soft as her hair, her cheeks were rosy, her eyes, those eyes were shining like the first day I saw her and she was smiling. Two fucking hours ago she held me in her arms, like if she knew something will went wrong, I saw it in her eyes, in just one glance that lasted less than a second, but there it was, fear, confusion, uncertainty, she was scared and when everything went wrong I did nothing, I didn’t look for her, I didn’t send help for her, I was just waiting for her, waiting to see her again.

“You could’ve save her!” I screamed with the final punch, sending the punching bag flying meters away from me.

I fell on my knees, I saw the ground, sweat and tears were falling. I heard my heart hammering on my brain, the sound of my heavy breathing, the sobs coming out from my throat and Bucky’s hand on my shoulder.

“Steve” He said in a low voice but I didn’t answer.

“Steve, this wasn’t your fault, no one knew” Bucky said while he kneels beside me.

“She knew. She was afraid, she knew something was wrong” I said, still looking at the ground.

“Man. She didn’t,  and you better stop blaming yourself” Bucky said with a sigh.

“I didn’t do anything for her Bucky. I-I could’ve-” “But no one of us did” Bucky said before I could finish and this time i look up to see him.

As everyone his eyes were red with tear stains on his face.

“We all could have done something, so just stop it, stop saying it was your fault Steve! Everyone up there is blaming themselves too, we let her down! and the less we can do now is wait” Bucky said with sadness on his voice.

And I realized we were eleven out there, with her. She had eleven possibilities, eleven chances, eleven ways to be alive, and any of us where there with her, no one gave her a hand.

And so now I was pissed, we let her alone and nobody moved a finger when she was going to die down there.

“Guys. Tony wants to talk with us in the main room” Natasha said in the doorframe of the gym before she left.

“Let’s go man” Bucky said after he get up, he offered me a hand and I tooked it.

All the way my body was walking like autopilot mode, my mind was thinking in the possibilities we had, thinking about a life without her, I wouldn’t see her again, I’ll never could hold her again in the nights, kiss her, make her smile and laugh. There will be no one singing in the kitchen, dancing in the hallways or under the soft moonlight, everything would be grey and dull without her, everything will be cold, and lifeless like, winter.

“Rogers, just sit” I heard Tony’s voice beside me.

I looked at him, God, I shouldn’t have done that, it was Tony Stark broken outside and inside, then I looked around and I saw everyone, no one knows what to do, who to call, where to move, nothing, just waiting. I saw Sam’s head nodding beside him for me to sit down.

There was when I felt like her, when she remembered things and she zoned out, you’re trapped in your mind, thinking or recalling things and suddenly you’re awake, confused and lost, you try to comprehend what’s going on in real life, but you don’t know how.

I sit beside Sam, my eyes were looking the table in front, I was still thinking, remembering. I guess I just wanted to be in a better place, with her.

“What are we doing here Tony?” Wanda asked confused.

“We are here, for Y/N” Tony said in front of everyone, and we all heard, it was difficult for him to talk.

He closed his eyes, his hands were playing with a kind of device os something. He took a breath and then he look at us again.

“You don’t have idea how rough it was to talk to her or at least to make her talk. She just watched me, she look at my hands, my actions, but no word escaped her mouth. I thought she was deaf or something-” he said with a chuckle

“But then she screamed, every night, three years ago and I felt bad, you know? I’m his father, still she didn’t saw me that way before, it was hard to me too, but we’re family, by bloodlines and God, it was so hard because she’s stubborn like me, she shoved me off of her life everytime she could, and somehow I made her speak, then smile, then laugh, and then we build our bond of daughter-father, something I thought I would never have” Tony said taking a breath

“And in those three years I’ve learnt a lot of things, I’m still amazed of how we truly look like, but I’m more amazed of the progress she made here, with all of you. We’re truly a family for her, she had told me millions of times, and she also told me one of her favorite memories, her first Christmas, the one in Clint’s house, the one with the burning Christmas tree and dogs everywhere” he said again with a chuckle and we all made the same.  

“That was her favorite memory and I’m sure, everyone of us had one. Mine’s for example, the one in the kitchen, the one you all have seen-” Tony said, seconds before the big screen came down behind Tony and the video started, Tony took a seat beside Wanda.

We were looking at the footage, taking by F.R.I.D.A.Y. It was 6 a.m., we arrived four hours ago that day from a mission on Morocco, so everyone was asleep at that hours, until she came in the kitchen, wearing an old hoodie from Gotham’s University.

“She’s our little geek” Sam said with a chuckle and we all laughed, and we continued with the video.

She was looking for something, we all knew what, Thor’s Poptarts, that made him laugh and said ‘and she’s the little thief too’. The footage continued, until she was making a kind of quick dessert, she grabbed many things and she started cooking. She asked F.R.I.D.A.Y. to play her playlist and that’s where everything begun.

She was singing and dancing, a full performance of the songs played on the background. We were laughing again with this video, it was too hilarious, and it turned better when Tony scared her, he was wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and a big pair of boxers. They were dancing, singing, making a kind of Broadway act and then Tony slipped into the floor. She was laughing so hard, like everyone.

“So, what’s your favorite memory of Y/N?” Tony asked when the laughter died.

Everyone looked around, looking at each of us.

“When she went to Wakanda with me. She truly wanted to know my people, my roots-” T'challa said with a smile.

I couldn’t help but to feel a little jealous to remember when both of them left for a full month, we weren’t a thing yet, but I already loved her back then. I didn’t said nothing and I just listened, that memory was the detonator for their friendship.

“Man, I shouldn’t say this, she’ll kill me, but when we made all those pranks to everyone. God, magnets, the nest, glue-” Clint said laughing and soon everyone started to recall that day, so laughter and threats of death came to the conversation.

“The campfire, please! we didn’t want to make that thing, but still we did, for her, remember? she wanted so bad to see the stars that no one turned her off, and it’s my favourite memory of her, of all of us-” Sam said with a sad chuckle before he continued.

“The big hunting in the Tower for sure. Your girl it’s pretty creative to make this kind of games, you know?” Natasha told me with a smile, then she continued with the Autumn story and the bets made that day.

“Coney Island, that’s my favorite” Bucky said and Tony looked at him surprised “What? it was a fun day, I mean, Sam was there too-” Bucky told us the whole memory and I couldn’t hide the smile.

“All the karaoke nights are my favorite, even more when we are in the Tower. She really enjoys those nights, you can see her how much she loves them. But the first time we did it, when Thor brought his liqueur-” Wanda said laughing and smiling, soon her tears were from happiness. Everyone told their point of view of that crazy night, and in fact, that day was when I started falling for her and hard.

“Now that Lady Wanda remind me. My favorite memory with Y/N was when she made me a Birthday party and she brought Jane too…” Thor was saying and I remembered that day, everything was a mess before Thor arrived to the Tower  and she was in the border of hysteria, stille everything turn kind of well.

“What can I say? She looks at me as a brother, like if we have the same blood. She wants me to be happy, so she teached me how to cook, you know to surprise Wanda. Also, that day happened a lot of weird things-” Vision keep telling the story.

Everyone was laughing and crying with the memories even me and then everyone looked at me, so I realized I was the only one left. 

“I don’t know, I just can’t pick one, every story with her it’s different and I don’t know. I can tell you that my favorites are when we just sit out in the balcon to draw for hours with a playlist made by her, or our longs road trips because she wanted to discover new places, the birthday parties, when we go out to jazz clubs, or even just mornings, it’s just perfect to know she’s there, i love her hair being a mess, even when she scolds me for my wounds, or when she listen to all my tales, she always heard them as if I was telling her the secrets of the universe, she looks at me as I was the moon. But, I have this one…  ”

Autumn, rain and strong winds. We didn’t have any mission in months, so Clint, Thor, T'challa and Sam weren’t in the Tower. Tony made us to Bucky and me a full marathon of pop culture, so we we’re on the Tv room, eating all types of junk food, the others were nowhere to be seen.

We were watching Blade Runner, one of the favorites of Y/N so I tried to payed attention, until Bucky spoked.

“Man. This kind of movies are awesome, but nothing like back in the day” Bucky said with his mouth full of popcorns.

“Things change Bucky, that’s why we are here” I reminded him, my eyes still looking at the giant screen.

“I know, but… did you miss those days? like going to dance at nights with the jazz, you that kind of stuff?, damn I would pay anything to go back, at least one day” he said with more popcorns on his mouth.

“What would you do in that day?” I asked curious

“What I wouldn’t do? I’ll take a pretty gal to dance, maybe walk in the streets under the stars, eat hot dogs from Coney Island, I’ll see my family once again, maybe I have a second chance to say goodbye” Bucky said with seriousness in his voice, he almost looked sad.

And so was I, if someone could give me one day like Bucky said, I’ll totally be with my mother, I’ll didn’t mind to like before if that would give me a day with her.

“You miss Sarah?” Bucky asked even though he knew the answer.

“You don’t have idea pal, but thing is I don’t remember her, like every detail of her, and that freaks me out” I told him with frown.

“You’ll never forget her, I’m sure” Bucky said, he placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled.

“Hope you it’s true” I told him with a smile.  

“It will. But, let’s change the topic, when are you going to tell Tony?” Bucky asked, I looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“Pal. you really can’t hide the truth” he said with a chuckle

“How you know?” I asked him more confused.

“Dude, really? you two are too obvious, I bet Tony already knows” Bucky said with a smile

“Bucky, since when you know?” I asked him more curious.

“Let’s see, oh yeah, your birthday, 3 months I guess, since when you two are dating?” he said with a smirk.

“6 months Buck, but shut up, please” I felt my cheeks turned pink.

“Man! Now I understand why she have your hoodies, and why she leaves your bedroom on mornings!” Bucky said amazed.

“Just shut up” I said once more but there wasn’t a power on Earth to make Bucky shut up.

It was pretty late at night and I couldn’t sleep and I was waiting for here, since breakfast I didn’t saw her, so I was missing her. I was going to call her when I heard knocks on my door. 

“Steve? are you awake?” I heard her voice behind the door. 

I hurried to open and I saw her, she was soaked, but she was standing there with something behind her, I didn’t gave a damn, I hugged her like if there was going to be the last time. 

“Jesus Christ, I can’t breathe” she said with a giggle. 

I let her go and I step aside for her to get inside. She walks inside and she turn around to see me, I close the door and I walk towards her to kiss her deeply. 

“What was gotten into you? huh?” she said with a huge smile after the long kiss.

“I’ve missed you” I said with a same smile. 

She bits her lower lip and she blushes, and then I realized that she’s really soaked.

“Where have you been?! you’re soaked!” I told her with concern, I go to my closet and take out some clothes to her. 

“Kind of long story, but don’t worry about it, I’m fine” she said before she sneezes. 

“No sense. Go, change” I told her nodding my head toward the bathroom. 

She grabs the clothes with her free hand, and then she disappears into the bathroom for some minutes. She comes out wearing one of my long boxers and a blue hoodie, her hair in a messy bun.

“You’re such a mom” she said with a chuckle. 

“I don’t want you to get sick Y/N” I told her with a smile, she looks so cute wearing my clothes. 

“Well, what a gentleman” she says with a smile. 

“So, what were you doing outside with these storms?” I asked her with a mischievous grin. 

“Don’t do that” she laughs before she continues “This is serious stuff” she said with a smile. 

I look at her confused and then she commands me to close my eyes. I do what she says and I heard her walking around my room, then I feel something in my hands. 'You can see now’ she says and I look at my hands. It’s a rectangular box.

“Open it” she says with excited and with a sparkle in her eyes. 

I open the box and I take out what look like a big frame, I turn it to see the picture and I gasp. 

“I thought you may want something to remember her, you know? I haven’t saw anything around here that makes you remember her, not that I’m saying you don’t do that, but you know-” she was talking faster and faster because she was nervous. 

I was looking at the framed drawing on my hands, it was Sarah Rogers, my mother. I looked at every path she made, it was, perfect. I felt tears coming in my eyes and I looked at her.

 "You made this?“ I asked her and she looked at me more nervous, she nodded with her head.

 I leaved the drawing on my bed and i heard her still talking, she was scared that I didn’t like it, she was so nervous that she didn’t saw me walking towards her and I kissed her hard again, all tension left her body and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"H-how did you find her face?” I asked her with a smile after I stop kissing her.

“I searched for months in different places, like the municipal library, old registers of hospitals, mostly every where, until I found her” she said smiling, her eyes looking at me. 

“God. I love you” I told her after kissing all her face, and she was laughing so hard I knew everyone in the Tower could hear us.

“For sure, that’s one of my favorite memories with her” I said with a sad smile.

Everyone was looking at me, but mostly Wanda was so touched by the story, I mean everyone was, but she had always told us how much she loved the fact that the two of us were a couple.

“You two are definitly love birds” Sam said with a chukle and a smile.

“Well. now, I bring all of you here because, that’s the way I want you all to remember her and before you all speak listen to me. This happened because, I hide things from her, to all of you” Tony said and know, everyone was confused.

The image of Y/N appeared on the screen behind, one when she had a huge smile on her face, it was her birthday on that pic, so everyone smiled.

“This is our Y/N, the one we love” Tony said with a sad smile.

And then a photograph appeard beside that one. One of her, wearing a high pony tail, with her eyes white and with a lot of black liner. There’s wasn’t a smile on her face, you could feel rage and hate, but the worst, she was wearing a black suit, in her chest, the big red logo of Hydra.

Everyone gasped. We were shocked, everyone started yelling at Tony, making questions, how? Y/N? Why?.

“Shut up!” Tony yelled and everyone tooked their sits again, we were confused.

“This is also Y/N, our Y/N, it’s the same girl, our friend, my daughter, the one we love, the same person, so let me explain everything” she said with tears on his eyes and hurt in his voice.

“After our civil war, I had this urgency to know if I was really the last one of my family. So I made F.R.I.D.A.Y search for DNA tests around the world, looking for matches in any kind of blood data base. A week after, I got one match, Y/N, location, somewhere outside the cities from Ukraine, an Hydra’s base. I went with the iron troopers for her, when I found her she was inside a cell, starving to dead, hardly alive, so I bring her home with all of her register” Tony took a breath again.

“When she was awake she didn’t knew anything, neither her name. So I invented a story for her. She was born with her powers, so her mother left her with her uncle, until she died from diabetes in 2016, from there, she studied part of her college in Europe, she comes back and she had a fatal car accident, it’s a miracle that’s she’s alive, that’s why she doesn’t remember anything, that’s why she have to take her pills, to block her past, and make nightmares something common”  Tony told us with sadness in his voice.

“But her true story. It’s worst. What HYDRA did to her wasn’t her fault!, she’s not our enemy, she’s part of us” Tony said with hurt in his voice.

“What did they made her Tony?” I asked him with my fists closed.

“You will know about Lilian” Tony said with tears in his eyes.

[ruleandruinrpg]

CONGRATULATIONS, RED!

You have been accepted for the role of TATIANA LANTSOV. Reading this application made me legitimately laugh out loud -- in the best of ways. She is tenacious, bratty, frivolous, and conniving in the best of ways. A character to remember, a character that will leave you legitimately shook. You captured all of that and more in this single application. I don’t think I could ever see anyone more fitting to portray Tatiana than you. Parts of your application had me laughing in near tears, while others had me feeling sad for the girl that could be so much more. I cannot wait for you to reign her holy terror on the dash and I cannot wait to see how she unfolds in the world of Ravka. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for this application! You have 24 HOURS to send in your account. Also, remember to look at the CHECKLIST. Welcome to Ravka!

OUT OF CHARACTER

ALIAS: Rita (if that gets confusing since there’s also a Rita character, I can just go by Red?)

PREFERRED PRONOUNS: she/her

AGE: 20

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: 6 – The deadline for my internship report is June 20th, and though it’s finished atm, I know I’m gonna be stressing out about it on that first deadline day or so, so I won’t be very active. After that, prepare to never get rid of me. I am halfway through an internship at a news agency, and since I no longer have classes but can’t start publishing things because I chose politics and need a lot of time to get familiar with the specifics of how parliament works until they’re sure I won’t fuck up, I’m finding myself with more free time than I’ve had in months.

TRIGGERS: OMITTED

CURRENT/PAST ACCOUNTS: scarlettduharts.tumblr.com; agirlnamedsparrow.tumblr.com; aurormoody.tumblr.com; thurstanselwyn.tumblr.com;

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER: Tatiana Dmitrievna Lantsov

WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?

I have always been fascinated by people who are completely removed from reality.

It’s only natural, then, that one of my favorite archetypes has long since become that of the bad, mad aristocrat - the guileless narcissist dripping with entitlement, oblivious to their own emotional vacancy. Tatiana, with all her envy and penchant for childish grudges, is one of such aristocrats.

But the fun is always in seeing beneath that, isn’t it? Tatiana actually reminds me of Veda Pierce, another rotten, irredeemable brat, but one whose motivations are never explained in the source material, and that I’ve always speculated about.

Tatiana may be frivolous and mean but she’s also quite pitiful. She’s never learnt how to love, how to think, how to work an honest day… Her upbringing left her so blissfully unaware of the real world, such a stranger to pain and want, that she’s forced to make up large problems out of small inconveniences and takes even the grandest things in her life for granted. The girl was denied a large part of what makes a person a person, and with the entitlement instilled into her from birth, it’s really no wonder that that she grew into a monster.

Could she still have become someone good? Sure! Plenty of people turned out a lot better after surviving a lot worse than being a poor little rich girl. It’s not about excusing her. But there are definitely reasons that make Tatiana who she is.

I’d love to get to explore the heart of Tatiana, small and cold and vacant as it may be, to get to the core of a sort of character that is often relegated to the role of minor antagonist in other people’s stories.

I won’t pretend that the Barbie Ferreira faceclaim left me totally cold either. I adore her and leapt with joy as soon as I saw you were using her for a character. Barbie has such a captivating, beautifully decadent look to her – I could honestly go on and on about how striking she is, and she’s absolutely perfect for Tatiana!

WHAT FUTURE PLOT IDEAS DID YOU HAVE IN MIND?

-If she were to think clearly, Tatiana would find that she doesn’t want the royal family to fall. That would put her in a very bad position and she evidently does not want to be in it. But Tatiana isn’t thinking clearly. She isn’t and she won’t. A part of her will always ache to see those who fancy themselves above her knocked down from their heights and she’d go against her own self-interest to do it. So if someone were to, let’s say, approach her and bargain with her to spy on her cousin Ana or spread rumors about Anton (which she probably already does, with some discretion), she could easily be persuaded to. She probably wouldn’t even anticipate the dire, dire consequences her actions could have. I like the idea of Tatiana being an instrument to sabotage the royal family without realizing that their fall would bring her down with them.

-I also want to explore the courtship from hell™ with Ilya like crazy! I’d love to see a liaisons dangereuses type of dynamic develop between them, with Tatiana trying to destroy any girl he sleeps with and going atomic on the whole seduction aspect of the issue, eventually ending with a “if I can’t have you no one else will” kind of thing.

- I think it would be fun to explore a rivalry with Darya? Tatiana hates and envies Anastasia with every beat of her black heart, but she loves them too. The thought of being replaced in their heart probably kills her, and she must hate the warmth between her cousin and the Voronov girl.

- One of the things that I’d be the most interested in exploring with Tatiana would be a connection with someone, either grisha or not, who is actually dangerous. Maybe she pisses them off, maybe she amuses them because of how shameless she is, whatever. I just want her to get close enough for them to burst her bubble a little, to make her see that there are people capable of far worse than she is. And not necessarily because they’re worse people, you see? Only because they’ve been had a lifetime of hardship and jumping over loops that never existed in her sheltered life – because they’re better at being bad.

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO HAVE YOUR CHARACTER DIE?: Yes! I wouldn’t want her to get killed off before I had a chance to explore the ideas I have on her, but if it eventually made sense to the plot, I wouldn’t be opposed to it at all! Let’s be honest: Tatiana, at least as she is now, is probably not well-equipped to survive much…

IN DEPTH

IN CHARACTER PARA SAMPLE(S):

She wanted to gauge out its eyes and eat them.

Two red gems in a golden necklace, daring her to run her fingers through their surface – bloody and very, very red. She’d cut her teeth if she bit through it. And it only made the urge to press them against her lips all the more tempting, to kiss them before wrapping them around her neck as the other one had.

“Isn’t it lovely?”, Anastasia asked, and Tatiana was plunged back into her cousin’s bedroom, sunk on the divan while the little fool twirled away and banished the red in a fluttering haze of white silk.

“Oh, beautiful”, she spat.

But her cousin was not beautiful. In the eyes of peasants and of the new bourgeoisie, perhaps, untrained to the subtleties of it. Tatiana had finer tastes, a keener eye. Their eyes were too round, the poise in their movements too calculated to hold any grace. Theirs was the beauty of the peasant girl, gone with the first fallen leaf – she did not know how to be a proper princess and it did not belong to them.

“Tatiana”, they called, “are you upset?”

She hadn’t noticed how the hunger had seeped into her features, twisting their softness with a child’s angry pout. A stranger would have found the sight of it juvenile, even endearing. The servants would have quaked in their boots.

“I am not.” But how couldn’t she be, with such a great injustice dangling before her? All the diamonds and emeralds in the world did not matter. She might as well have been dressed in rags without the glorious necklace Anastasia had taken.

“You”, she snapped, pointing towards the nearest servant, “bring me a glass of kvas this instant.”

The mousy boy barely glanced at her before rushing out of the room, long warned of the screams that would come should he take too long to acquiesce. A tall woman entered in his stead. Sour and homely, unworthy of interest.

And yet the voice was cavernous, too proud for a woman of her station.

“The Queen requests your Highness’s presence”, she announced, not meriting Tatiana with a single glance. But oh, how she looked at Ana. Like a fire in winter, her eyes reflecting its warmth despite all the coldness of her posture. For a moment, she forgot to want the eyes in the necklace, the red jewels. She wanted the woman’s colorless ones instead.

That was no way to look at one’s betters.

“Excuse me.”

Anastasia didn’t protest, didn’t so much as ask what the servant wanted. She turned around like an obedient little dove, dropping the necklace on the nearest dresser. They were a haze of white when they left the room, flowing fabric trailing after their heavy black curls.

“Sooka.”

Curse her, she thought, curse her and her bloodline and her blasted crown and all the ugly suitors that may worship at her bland little feet.

Tatiana stretched her legs, her bare feet, scowling at the whiteness of her skin. Rita Jacos had promised to fix its pastiness, but she could still see something waxy, something unworthy of her perfection. And so was the room.

Once, in another room, Tatiana had been read tales of the old Os Alta. She had been very small, then, wrapped in fine frills and with her bare feet dangling from the lap of the old, frumpy woman she had once loved. It didn’t hurt to think of Nanny Baluskaya now – she had been dead for too long. She could hardly recall the texture of the old lady’s wrinkled hands, the frost in her voice when she spoke of the large, unforgiving land they called home and its days of sunlight.

“No mama”, she would order, “tell me more of the palace. I want to hear of the princes and the princesses, not of peasants and wheat!”

And so Mama would tell her of gold and rubies and a time where the palace walls had been draped in them and Tatiana could never understand why it was that the Lantsov’s could not live as lavishly as their ancestors had. The war and the wheat were the peasant’s to worry about, the darkness a grisha affair, none of them of any concern to the nobility.

Tatiana knew now, with her bare feet dangling from the divan and no old woman to hold her, that she would have brought Os Alta to its glory days if she’d been a princess. They’d have red drapes and golden embroidery, heads of the finest beasts mounted on the walls. It infuriated her to think of what could have been.

Until her dark eyes met the red ones across the room.

She felt a smile curl her lips, a quick flash of sharp teeth that nearly stopped the servant on his track when he came to deliver the kvas. Tatiana eyed him with contempt before taking her glass, and tried to keep him from seeing that the smile came from his hesitation as well. Was it for the beauty, she wondered, or for the fear? It didn’t much matter – and neither did he.

Tatiana rose from the divan, glass still in hand, and walked to the drawer to wrap her other greedy hand around the necklace. She marveled at the weight of the gold in her palm. The sly smile returned and then…

She threw it against a mirror in the opposite wall.

It survived, of course. Its eyes were glistening amongst the gold and shards of glass, oblivious to the devastation Tatiana had meant to cause. And the sound of the shattering mirror had nothing on the scream that left her throat. Her freckled cheeks grew red, her throat sore.

“Has something-” the servant didn’t get to finish his sentence before she turned around to throw the glass his way. It shattered against the wall behind him and the boy was left shaking, cowering at her.

“What did you do?”, she yelled, “Do you know how many of you that necklace is worth, you little pig?”

There was a tinge of perversity to it, at first, the hint of a smile in her distorted lips. But Tatiana burnt through it very quickly. At last, the fire of righteous indignation took her, and she had nothing but anger boiling in her blood.

“Please”, the boy begged, “I did nothing. I will call for my mother, she will settle it!”

“Mother?”

What a laugh, what a riot - for the little fool to think he was the son of anyone of worth! She raised her hand and delivered a swift blow across his face.

He began to sob.

“My – my- my mother is the head of the servants, you see?”

Her nose wrinkled in disgust. What did it matter that he was the son of the arrogant woman that had called for her cousin? It shouldn’t even have infuriated her as deeply as it did. It shouldn’t. It shouldn’t! She struck the boy twice as hard for daring to voice his unfortunate parentage. Surely he must have known, must have seen how the woman had ignored her – the filthy ugly rat.

The scream that left her throat had nothing human to it, nothing but the full depth of madness in the world, the chaos that must have existed in the parts of Ravka the darkness had long taken. It broke through Tatiana’s body, through her chest. The grief of being made to feel nothing reminded her that she was alive.

“They should have you hung by your entrails and fed to your mama for dinner”, she pronounced every syllable with excruciating clarity, meeting the boy’s gaze for the first time.  She saw nothing but the fear in him, the pathetic subservience. And he saw something terrifying.

Her, Tatiana thought, and the word held all the triumph in the world – her saw her.

She raised her head to find a guard walking in their direction, hesitant for only a moment before he too grabbed the boy by the arm. They couldn’t hurt her – not if she screamed, mangled or killed. Her blood was purer than any part of them.

“Is this how you repay my beloved cousin for her kindness?” She was yelling again, all the self-righteousness of a judge with the shrewdness of a harpy.

Tatiana didn’t merit the guard with a glance until a few moments later, when she spoke in his direction. “I suppose the filthy little fleabag meant to break the necklace! But, as you must know, someone like him wouldn’t know the first thing about how strong the piece is. He broke the mirror instead!”

“I could have hurt myself”, she continued, her voice rising an octave higher, “I could have been blinded by the broken glass!”

The guard turned somber. And Tatiana, for all her rage, began to feel a tingle of satisfaction. She laughed when the man dragged the servant away, the taste of it far sweeter than of the bitter kvas.

“Go on little malen'kaya krysa, squeal!”

Tatiana would never know what had happened to the boy and his mother - she would never care. But she did, for the faintest moment, care to know what took the guard’s expression before he turned away to drag the boy.

She would have never have suspected it to be boredom.

CHARACTER HEADCANONS:

-Tatiana had a vast sum of pets during her childhood: a cat, a dog, a pony, a caged lark, even a wildcat. She remembers their names, their beauty and the passing interest they held, and will occasionally mention them. What she forgets is exactly why she was bored of them or what her father did to them afterwards. It’s not something she often thinks about.

-She’s a virgin. Not in the frail, cowardly way some girls are, with their dry entrails and their tiresome insecurities. No, because Tatiana would never reduce herself to that kind of thing. But she has known who will take her virginity since she was a very young girl. She’s disgusted by most men - bored by the young ones, who will avert their eyes from her chest and tremble in her presence, and furious at the old, who open their ghastly mouths and smile like she’s nothing but a piece of flesh. It’s nearly as bad as the rage when they won’t look at her, really… She would have all their heads as a queen. But not his. She’d much rather have Ilya Tsarov’s head intact. He is power, beauty, ice carved into man. Why would she want any of those beastly creatures, when she can have him? Besides, virginity can be a weapon in itself. Tatiana tells herself that she’s quite knowledgeable about the appetites of the flesh already, and that being a virgin doesn’t really put her at a disadvantage against other people. It’s a shame that there are butterflies in her stomach whenever someone comes close to touching her. She’s getting tired of waiting. There’s a good chance she’ll grow irritated soon enough, and an irritated Duchess Tatiana Lantsov is not an enemy Ilya Tsarov wants to face.

- She is plagued by the persistence of a childhood nickname. Tati – a plain, playful thing fit for a bitch or a servant, cracking on the tongues of those not fit to address her even by her proper title. The lowly ones have long learnt not to use it, lest they incur on her wrath. It’s only when those of royal blood utter it that Tatiana is forced to bite down her rage and choke on blackness and bile before she can bite back.

-[TW: Emotional abuse, arranged marriage, just a fucking horror story in general] She didn’t come from love, as some terrible things do. “I will not marry him”, Natalya had said, trembling as they wrapped the gold around her neck. But they painted her mouth, poured something fiery down her throat, and she was married by the morning. They laughed at the foolish girl in her drunken haze, the Queen’s youngest and prettiest sister. She was seventeen. Tatiana’s father was a clever man, rich in name and coin, short and stout, but nonetheless blessed with a slimy smile and an unassuming charm that helped him pull the strings of everyone around him. The truth was that Grigori wanted the Lantsov name for his children, and there was little anyone could have done to stop him. He tried to get Natalya to love him, truly. Why wouldn’t he have? She was so lovely - her stupidity was only another of her many charms. He lavished her in jewelry and ignored the way she would flinch at his touch. It wasn’t his fault he grew bored of her. Her resistance would have tattered through any man’s nerves, and young girls could be quite dull. Tatiana was born a year after they’d married, wide-eyed and even lovelier than her mother. And saints, was she adored! Of course, Natalya was never very present when her daughter was a child, off with her soldiers and the things they gave her to dream… But she more than made up for it with her gifts, with the desperate kisses she would plant on her little girl’s face. Tatiana could never quite understand what was wrong with her mother. But she soon realized that the more accusations of abandonment she made, the more fervent Natalya’s adoration would be. So she grew fluent in the language of pouts and shrieking, saving the best for when her father came to visit. Oh, how Grigori loves her beauty, her pride, the nobility that she embodies! He is, and has always been, utterly enchanted by everything about her. It doesn’t keep him from using her to control Natalya, of course, keeping his wife’s sense of worth at a manageable low by reminding her of what a terrible mother she is, how unloved she is even by her only child. But Grigori likes to think it’s one of the many things he and Tatiana share. He’s sure that there’s a strong bond between them, that he could control her if he really wanted to – the fact that she’s almost as selfish as he is has to mean something!

-Tatiana isn’t stupid - she’s only remarkable at making herself seem so. She’s a clever enough girl and even had a brain for mathematics as a child. She was good at history and geography as well. She’d develop obsessions with different lands and eras, dressing herself and decorating her room in their likeness. But they were nothing but varnish with which to cover her true interest, colorful pieces to be forgotten when the season passed. What she truly loved was her vanity, the details of a world she was sure was all hers to take. And that’s a very stupid thing to think, particularly for a sheltered girl who’s never known loss or had any sort of power that didn’t come from a name or a sore throat. It’s the sort of smug stupidity that can bleed into everything one does.

-Tatiana is an occasional reader, but doesn’t really have the mental persistence for complicated literature. She devours romance novels. The silly girls and and bland boys in their pages amuse her, and she tells herself that’s why she can’t stop reading them. She was also fond of tales of adventurers and explorers as a child, but has long abandoned them to the dust.

-She’s a marvelous dancer, a pitiful sower and an atrocious singer.

-“Make me”, she tells her, and does not say beautiful. Tatiana knows she is beautiful. She knows, and it only makes the flaws all the more glaring, the indifference with which some look at her all the more hurtful. The approval of the others is meaningless. “Make me”, she tells her, “make me perfect”.

EXTRAS:

Inspiration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31rVmUuPErQ – Remember how I mentioned that Tatiana reminded me of Veda Pierce and that my take on her was sort of inspired on the character? Veda is middle-class turned new money rather than aristocracy but watch this video and tell me if the utterly delusional, juvenile, hurtful rant around 2:06 and the little fit at the end aren’t SO Tatiana. “But why Veda?” Because she’s a cunt, Mildred, that’s why <3 I listened to this whenever I needed inspiration for the app tbh.

Songs for Tatiana:

(not long, organized or consistent enough to be a playlist, but a valiant attempt nonetheless)

Beauty is empty, mars argo

I see you staring in your mirror

What will it take for you to see

Your pretty smile is a monster

And your beauty is empty

Red lips, Sky Ferreira

Little bitch

Growing so bored of your fits

‘Cause sooner or later, you’re done

And down with the worms

And no one remembers your name

Too bad

Primadonna, Mariana and the diamonds  -

I can’t help but I need it all

The primadonna life, the rise and fall

You say that I’m kinda difficult

But it’s always someone else’s fault

Got you wrapped around my finger, babe

You can count on me to misbehave

And I’m sad to the core, core, core

Every day is a chore, chore, chore

When you feel of a whole more more

I wanna be adored

(just the entire fucking song tbh)

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich – Lady Gaga

Bang bang, we’re beautiful and dirty rich – I know this seems hella weak, but the song is one I could see as a soundtrack while Tatiana walks down a room? XD

Gold, Guns, Girls – Metric

All the gold and the guns in the world (couldn’t get you off)

All the gold and the guns and the girls (couldn’t get you off)

All the boys, all the choices in the world

(…)

Is it ever gonna be enough?

Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde

My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones

It keeps my veins hot, the fires find a home in me

(…)

They used to shout my name, now they whisper it

I’m speeding up and this is the

Red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart

Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.pt/girlbitesback/character-tatiana/

ANYTHING ELSE? OMITTED