#I also gasped at that moment in Macbeth

[myauntspen]

I endorse these sentiments so wholeheartedly! Including the “fell in love with the filler” part!

Ngl, I'm scared about Season 3.

So much of what I loved about Season 2 was all the character development, the "filler" (minus a few moments that felt like unnecessary jokes, but that's a whole 'nother post.) How queer it was, how much it didn't hurry to further the plot like I felt like Season 1 did.

I came into Good Omens as as Gaiman fan, and as happy as I am that he's essentially no longer involved, I don't know what to make of the Pratchet Estate taking on a major role. Yes, I know TP wrote as much if not more than Gaiman when it comes to the book. But it's the show I fell in love with.

All that said:

I know David and Michael, the latter especially, took a fairly platonic script Good Omens Season 1, and made it very romantic.

I know they acted the fuck out of a Zoom call for three seasons and it's still one of the funniest things I've seen.

I saw Michael Fucking Sheen cold read an entire play for a 500 person audience. And he fucking killed it.

I saw David Fucking Tennant play a character that has been played countless times. And the audience still fucking GASPED at a key moment in the play.

I don't know the new producers enough to fully trust them yet. And that's okay.

But I trust David and Michael as actors. And for now that is enough.

[slowlystupendousdelusion]

Going to London on a whim definitely paid off cause I managed to wrangle my way into Macbeth twice

Some further thoughts:

1. Okay so I think it might have been the arts interview where Tennant says not to worry about understanding Shakespeare because if the actors are doing their job right you will be fine. He's right and this cast utterly succeeds at that.

2. I'm generally terrible for my mind wandering when I'm watching things (the rewind button on my remote is much abused) but I was enthralled from start to finish. Even with having seen it multiple times. Not a hint of my mental shopping list.

3. My potentially controversial opinion is that I might like the cheap seats better? When I was in the stalls I was off to the side, whereas the standing tickets obviously you're looking at the stage head on. I think some of the visuals were far more striking from the back - you get full impact from the lighting and the blood seeping out at the death scene and the people behind the screen at the back. I don't think the warm to cool light changes are as noticeable from the front. However, you obviously have a much better view of the actors and the nuances of their performances (although because of the set up of the theatre from the side you are blocked from seeing everyone on stage at some points). It's a bit more intense up close, and it does feel like the actors are looking directly at you (Not me quailing in my seat during prolonged eye contact 😅)

4. I think I went through the overall choices made before but some more things I enjoyed: how much humour is imbued throughout, Lady Macbeth being warm and likeable, Macbeth lying prone multiple times through the play mirroring his final send off, Macduff "all my pretty ones?", Macbeth's little face when he gets both swords, him questioning the manhood of the cutthroats, the absolute softness of Macbeth's embrace before completely pulling the rug out from under you and murdering a child in the same gesture.

4. Minor miracle how Cush Jumbo managed not to get her bloodied hands on her very white dress? Very impressed with this.

5. I think the one thing I would say is that they should have made Fleance/Macduff's son/Young Siward have more obvious costume changes between them

6. I still love how pared back the stage and costumes are. It's incredible how rich the experience is with actually not a lot.

7. I think I'm sold on the binaural audio; the play opens in darkness and you hear a bird move from one side to the other in your headset. Not only do I look from one side to the other like a fool, but my brain reckons it can see the wings in the gloom. There are multiple moments that the delivery is far more intimate than would be allowed without use of the audio. I think this could be really beneficial for larger theatres for those in the cheaper seats too. Also, maybe better for inclusivity for those with visual or aural impairments if everyone has a headset? The drawbacks for me are the occasional crackle you get from the mic pack, and I guess maybe it feels like you're further removed from the actors themselves. Also I guess if I'm sitting at the side my left and right sounds don't quite match up with where the actors are looking based on where the left to right sounds are for those sitting centrally? It didn't really affect my enjoyment any, but would perhaps need to be considered if this was used in different performances/larger theatres etc.

8. What the binaural audio did not stop was me hearing the woman sitting next to me gasping and jumping about ten foot into the air multiple times during the performance. She absolutely had not noticed anything going on behind the screen at the back until they started hammering, and of course I then jumped myself cause I was not expecting noise/motion from that side. This was incredibly funny but awkwardly coincided with some of the most intense parts of the play. (Although I imagine if I hadn't already seen it I might have been less entertained)

9. Have I said how good it was? It bears repeating

10. Standing Ovation discourse: Friday night I was surprised by how few stood? As the painfully British person I am, I was hoping that someone else would stand up first but they didn't in my block. Also I almost garotted myself on the headphone wire when I stood up so maybe this was a consideration others were having. I was sort of shocked that others didn't stand after we did (not because I think I'm some kind of influencer but IME British standing ovations are motivated by social pressure in a "oh gosh all these other people are standing up, I guess I better had too" sort of way. There has to be enough people doing it to overcome the innate "you must not make a scene" directive that burns within our souls.) No one stood in the front row of my bit at all. Sat Mat had noticeably more people standing, including in the front row.

11. The person sat next to me said to her husband as it ended "I certainly wasn't wowed by it" and I was utterly shook. I don't think I heard any one else being particularly critical (but also I would never say anything so damning about a show I'd seen in the theatre itself so maybe it's not a fair sample)

12. Honestly I needed a full on hour or so to decompress after seeing this, I was fizzing under the surface.

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

man that got me thinking about the catholic school days… like transferring from public school was such a comedic experience i look back on it now and have to laugh

some people treated me like a poor unfortunate soul and asked me questions about my experience like i just walked into civilization from a jungle (“did people… bully you?�� cue me: “…bullying exists everywhere?”)

i was also an Anomaly because when i took the entrance test i pretty much aced the math section and was placed into advanced math straightaway which hadn’t been seen from a transfer student before, which i at the time (forgetting i was literally in math olympiad and advanced math already) thought was much less of a big deal than they were making. (“they were impressed i could calculate the area of a trapezoid,” i complained to my mother after they informed me of my placement. “it was easy. they literally gave me the formula.”)

on my very first day there was held a pep rally for the middle school (this was a preschool through 8th grade school) and one of the “games” was to have a student from each year tell the whole middle school about something they did that summer. i don’t know who came up with that or who even thought that would be a suitable game to play for 11-13 year olds. anyway nobody was volunteering, the usual Kids Who Did Public Speaking didn’t want to do it, so i volunteered myself and delivered an impromptu stand-up set about my priest uncle coming to visit. i won.

the son of my favorite english teacher (who by the way. absolutely loved me from the moment i did that stand-up set on the first day. pretty much all my english teachers there simply loved me i have no clue why) straight up said to my face as we walked out of science class “you’re really smart, for a public school kid” and i was SO offended

i befriended most if not all the sisters on campus and spent time chatting with the one in the library who was from the democratic republic of the congo and spoke french swahili and english. or working the snack bar with another down near the playground who let me stack the pudding cups in the fridge. even the one running the cafeteria, who everyone said was mean, was actually really friendly if you were polite to her and were actually interested in her well-being. my mom and i even ended up being friends with the really quiet one who guarded the gate in the mornings

so much of junior high was me doing whatever the fuck i wanted honestly. i snuck broadway references into things. i think once i even used a matilda the musical song in a school project. i danced with a girl at the last formal social and nobody batted an eye.

we had our inaugural shakespeare performances outdoors where we did selected scenes from plays and i got lady macbeth hyping macbeth up to frame the guards for murdering the king (bc the guy teaching it was like this is the most challenging scene and i was like. bet). one of my friends made fake blood from a chocolate base (he was SO good at practical effects my god) and i was dying to taste it bc he said it was edible so we took our bows when the scene was over and i was still on stage in costume when i stuck a blood-covered finger in my mouth. cue HORRIFIED gasps from the audience. one of my classmate���s little sister was so terrified she would not speak to me for months.

we did eighth grade superlatives and there were fewer categories than students (but there were few students anyway so everyone got a superlative) and even though there were multiple people per superlative, i was the only one who was a “Responsible Individual”. which was hilarious

also i went from being the Poor Little Public School Kid to like. by the advisor’s words, “one of the best school presidents,” so i can really say i peaked in junior high

all this was what put me on the radar of the mother who, four years later, expressed that she wanted me to follow her son to [UNNAMED IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL]. which is the funniest bit of all

however i will say that talking to people from that era, they’re a little too quick to pin down our current achievements on the fact we went to catholic school, which is annoying. was talking to someone who was saying “it’s all because of the foundation catholic school gave you” conveniently forgetting i went to public school for FAR longer than i went to private school. it makes me wonder that, if i had been slightly less achieving now than i am, would they be adamant about my “catholic school foundations”? but that’s just speculation. i personally just had a fun time and i really enjoyed myself lol

[beerok23]

MACBETH AT HAROLD PINTHER (November 9th, 2024) - A REVIEW WITH SPOILERS

Now that I’m back home, I can write a considerate and not at all crazy and nostalgic post about Macbeth.

Be careful, if you haven’t seen it yet and you’re supposed to see it soon: this review has spoilers.

Please, forgive me if it has typos and if I repeat myself and if this post is so unhinged. I can’t help it, I need to vent my thoughts and feelings.

Watching Macbeth was an otherworldly experience. Something you can only dream of and when it happens it changes all your brain cells.

When David first appeared on scene, from the darkness of the first lines pronounced by the witches…well, I wasn’t expecting him. I kind of distinguished his silhouette in the shadow, and I wasn’t sure that it was him. But it was. And when the lights turned on and he appeared on the scene full of blood and gasping…well I think my world shattered. It’s hard to explain what happens when you finally have the chance to see someone you admire so much only from afar, an actor you’re so accustomed to watch anywhere everyday…and then he finally appears in front of you and he’s like materialising and it’s like magic.

I mean, he was there, with the bowl at the centre of the stage, and the blood stains and he was SO TALL and SO David and SO everything all at once.

I spent the entire 2 hours watching him from my STALL B7 seat, a PERFECT seat —because he occupies the scene at the right of the stage SO much… seriously, I was lucky to choose that seat and it was perfect. Of course watching the scene from upper seats would be awesome to better appreciate the mis en scene, but people… the HEARTACHE I got when I realized David and his brown expressive eyes were there, in front of me.

I couldn’t not watch him, the way he possesses the stage, how he moves perfectly, and the lines, and the tone, a mixture of Crowley and Staged 😭😭😭 I mean… there’s one little laugh he made at one moment that really made me think, “Ok, here’s our demon.”

And those few moments of hilarity, when they try to make the audience laugh (which I almost never did, because I was so tense for the dramatic effect of the whole thing), for example when he mimics another character’s tone to mock him. Ok, that was an original Crowley.

And then Macbeth turns into a tyrant, and he is suddenly even more indifferent than Kilgrave when he’s there on the stage, for those two killing scenes that made me shiver and gasp in outrage. Seriously, the gasp I made when I saw him with the kids…

and I trembled all night (also because it’s terribly cold in the theatre 😁).

ABOUT THE SCENES, MY FAVOURITE MOMENTS, THE STAGE AND THE DIRECTION

The scene of the apparitions is awesome. No rising him up, like at Donmar, fine, but still… incredible. With the red lights, and the actors with spasms…And the kid actor (Raffi Phillips during my show) was incredible.

I adored how they performed the Banquo ghost bit. Intelligent, brilliant. And David out of himself was perfection.

The slow motion. It was my fave artistically bit, I think. The first time it happens, you’re so surprised. It’s like watching a movie, only it’s theatre. But when it happens during the dance scene…I felt my heart explode. And the way he interacts with Lady Macbeth, the perfection of the music changing and slowing down…Oh sweet lord.

The glass. Gosh, I wasn’t expecting it. I mean, I knew there were actors around the stage and musicians and singers, but I didn’t know about the glass. And the actors punching the glass to mimic knocks and sounds…Incredible tension and suspence.

And the scene with Lady MacDuff and her son’s death was incredible, INCREDIBLE. Again, MAcbeth being there on stage, as if he was really there (which he is not), holding the kid to soothe him and then…throwing him towards the killer. I felt it in my bones, David THRIVES in those moments of pure evil and you can only loathe Macbeth for being like that. And the same happens at the end, with the killing of the kid during the last fight, and when he breaks his neck…The whole theatre gasped in unison, I swear.

MY GOD HE’S GOOD. He’s so good.

The trees at the end…it was all so perfect and pure and a bliss. I can’t really explain.

ABOUT DAVID’S OUTFIT AND MONOLOGUES

The monologues…how many lines does Macbeth have? He’s almost ever present on scene and he’s so good, perfect.

The “is it a dagger” scene was…🥹 I can’t explain. And whenever he sat at the corner of the stage, being there even if Macbeth is not there. It feels like meta-theatre, as if they are trying to make us feel what he feels, even if you’re not supposed to be by his side.

The way he said “tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow”, with his perfect Scottish accent. It blew my mind. I was out of myself by then.

The kilt… well…the kilt 🖤 I’m not a sucker for David in a kilt. I wasn’t. But I changed my mind. This outfit will hunt my dreams for…a while. Years to come. But even more than the kilt, his legs and socks, and the black jackets on the grey shirt. The jackets are seriously a masterpiece.

Also, David keeping the wedding ring on stage is the sweetest thing btw ❤️

The legendary hair band, which disappears towards the end to leave space to David’s own hands; I kept watching enamoured every time he threw his hand in his hair. I mean, that’s his mannerism, and I was there to see him doing it.

And his hands. Those scenes in which he came forward with his hands moving in the air… incredible. Also, those few times in which his eyes fell to the stalls and sometimes it felt as if he was looking right at you. Amazing 🥹

ABOUT THE CAST

The cast. Brilliant, talented performers, all of them. Again the kid, my gosh how good was he? And Banquo’s understudy (NIALL MACGREGOR) was GLORIOUS and he complemented David so well!!! I have no idea how good the first actor is, but believe me: this Banquo was…a perfect complement to David. Even in his appearance, and I can totally see him playing a fine Macbeth last Tuesday, too.

Cush’s understudy (JASMIN HINDS) was AMAZING. I haven’t seen Cush, obviously, but from the clips I watched online, she gives a different vibe to the couple relationship, and you can tell that David let her manage the intensity of their connection and touches on scenes. It was lovely. She was lovely. I found they had huge chemistry on scene, and they fitted together awesomely.

I think she was insanely good and I managed to tell her after the show, when she came out from stage door. She is a very nice and sweet person, and she also congratulated me for my 10th wedding anniversary when I said to her, silly as I am, that I came with my husband from Italy to watch a married couple dying on stage on the night of our 10th anniversary. She was amused, and she was lovely. I told her that I was glad I got to see HER on scene, and I meant it 💜

The “pause” for comic effect performed by JATINDER SINGH RANDHAWA was insanely funny. All the knock knock jokes, him laughing at the audience and mocking random people, Oasis and Blur references, inside jokes about canceling the shows… He was so funny and he was so good when suddenly everything went back to normal and he became serious again in the span of a second.

How good are all these actors!

And Macduff, played by NOOF OUSELLAM. You know what? He’s the one who made me cry. When he’s told about his family’s death…he was so insanely good and realistic in his reaction, and the tension and drama on scene was so palpable and I cried with him. He was incredible.

As much as MOYO AKANDE, who was probably my favourite surprise of the night. I love her, she’s insanely good. As much as everyone else.

In the end, I’m so lucky that I got to see David performing, because if I had booked last Saturday, I would have missed the show and I would have been incredibly sad and disappointed (probably for the rest of my life). And David wasn’t still in tip-top condition, because after the last fight scene (which is a very well choreographed fight with swords), when he kneeled, he coughed (and I’ve been told that was not in character) — and it was the only little thing that made you understand that he was sick the prior week. My god, he’s such a professional, getting back as soon as he could. He was perfect and this whole production was a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings and surprises and suspence. It really deserves the world and accolades.

And I know I did not get a chance to see David at Stage Door, but you know what? I don’t care. Because this was a weekend that I totally dedicate to Good Omens in general (we went to St. James’s, and Tavistock Square, and to the bandstand in Battersea Park, which is probably my new place of the heart (broken or not, one of my favourite places in the whole world, now). And watching David on stage after a year of obsessing over the show and him and Michael felt like a cathartic moment. Ok, it’s not like meeting him and talking to him, maybe. But it’s better: it’s watching him in his raw version, in his element. The theatre has this kind of magic that television can’t provide. And I’m insanely happy to have gotten the chance to attend to one of these incredible shows.

Now I know.

09/11/2024

[aquitainequeen]

Some favourite staging moments in productions of Shakespeare plays:

Clarence actually getting drowned in a barrel of wine on stage in Richard III; it was a small barrel, they stuck his head into it as he struggled, pulled him out for an instant as he gasped for air and screamed, his head was wet and sopping, his face all red

Macbeth clutching his empty hands to hold an imaginary child, casting a clawed shadow on the wall

Ophelia ripping out hanks of her hair to give to people during her ‘flowers’ scene (obviously fake hair in real life)

Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing hiding from Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro, taking a swig from a can of beer that happened to be full of cigarette butts and spit-taking it all over Don Pedro and Leonato

who then awkwardly pretend to check if it’s raining

Angelo in Measure for Measure taking off a bloody cilice belt from around his thigh while saying ‘Blood, thou art blood’ 

Also a really good bit where Angelo shows up in a two way mirror later on when the Duke’s speaking to himself and cursing him; the Duke turns to point at the mirror and there’s Angelo, in the chain of office, pointing back, accusing the Duke as much as the Duke does to him

The moment in Julius Caesar where Brutus asks his servant Strato - who’s been sitting with his back to the audience and wearing a hat with a wide brim - to help him commit suicide; Strato stands while taking off his hat to reveal that he’s played by Caesar’s actor

(a collective gasp went around the theatre; really lent a whole new meaning to ‘Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will’)

After a frantic chase scene in The Comedy of Errors which ends with all the cast collapsed across the stage in exhaustion and the scenery itself falling to bits...a pair of underpants falls from the ceiling, and Dromio of Ephesus (who’d tried in vain to retrieve them at the start of the play) crawls over several other characters, seizes them and screams in triumph 

[blessednereid]

Pity the Living

Daniel Sharman x Reader Series

A/N: The Much Requested, and By Requested, I mean @rogershoe wanted me to write this, MY DANIEL SHARMAN FANFICTION!!!!!! The character that Y/N plays is based on my OC for FTWD and is not an actual character in FTWD. Basic Premise of the setting for this chapter is that they're in high-school/ secondary school. But for the majority of the story(minus flashbacks) it's set in 2016/17 when s3 of FTWD was filmed.

Story Summary: When (Y/N) (L/N) reunites with a high-school friend on the set of the job she's been working on for the past 2-3 years, not only is she excited to work with the guy who inspired her to go into acting, but to hear about what he's done since she's seen him. But the more they talk, the more she realizes, this reunion is not going the way she had planned.

CW: Cursing? brief mention of alcohol, anxiety, mentions of food, fake dagger, fake blood, bets,

☆◦ 。＼｜／。◦☆

Career Day

☆◦ 。／｜＼。◦☆

Most of the students around you were chorusing to the tune of your school anthem, but not you. You had heard the melody and sung it almost a million times. Whether you were exaggerating or not, not even you knew. Instead, you were whispering and laughing with one of your best friends, Daniel Sharman.

You met Daniel when you first came to the school. You didn't know many people. You didn't even know yourself in this place. It was a completely foreign experience, but he stuck by your side and showed you around.

Since then, you had made friends, joined the swim team, learned your way around the school without ending up in the boys' restrooms instead of the girls' ones. Despite not needing Daniel to show you around anymore, he still provided plenty of comedic support and pick-me-ups and was a great mate all around.

Your teacher had just finished introducing all the parents who were presenting at career day. The assignment being after the presentations were finished, you were supposed to think about what you wanted to be in the future. You had no idea what you wanted to be. But of course… Daniel did.

"An actor."

"An actor?" he nodded. "Like Macbeth?"

"No, Macbeth is a character. An actor is a person who plays the character."

"Why an actor?"

"Dunno. Just seems right."

You frowned. "Huh, that's nice. Knowing what you want to be."

"You could always try acting. It's worth a shot."

"Hah, if I ever tried acting, it would probably be when I'm old, senile, and look like Betty White."

"Oh, come on. You're a great actress!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Sharman?" you gasped.

"Just that you tell fibs and stories as if they were the truth. That's all acting is."

"I DO NOT!"

"How did you convince your mum that your dog jumped onto the table and ate the cake without making any noise last weekend, then?" You opened your mouth to speak before closing it.

"Cat got your tongue?" he teased.

"Shut up, Sharman."

☆◦ 。＼｜／。◦☆

L/N Residence

☆◦ 。／｜＼。◦☆

You and Daniel were both swimming in the pool in your backyard when Daniel asked you the question.

"Did you think about it?"

Still floating, you asked, "About what?"

"Acting."

You laughed incredulously. "You were serious?"

"Of course I was." He swam closer to you and pulled your leg down, making you flop around and splash water.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"Was just trying to get your attention," he remarked innocently.

You coughed. "You had it."

"Picture this," he waved you off. "Us, on the red carpet-"

"Who's red carpet?"

"Does it matter? We'll be each other's dates anyways."

"Why is that?" you asked.

"Because we're best friends."

"What if one of us has a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

He shrugged. "Ok, whatever. We're on the red carpet separately. It's both of ours red carpet-"

"So, does that mean we're in a movie together?"

"Yes, Y/N," he muttered exasperatedly.

"But that's impossible?"

"Why do you say that?"

You leaned closer to his ear. "BECAUSE I'M NOT BECOMING AN ACTOR."

He jumped away from you, proceeding to splash you with water.

"Mark my words. I know talent when I see it."

You sighed. "Could this just be you not wanting to be lonely in the acting world?"

He jutted his lip and spoke in a whiny voice. "Maybe…"

You laughed before splashing a giant wave of water at him. While he still had water in his eyes, you dove under and pulled him down.

He flailed around before his head popped up, and he calmed down.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"PAYBACK, SHARMAN!"

☆◦ 。＼｜／。◦☆

Announcement

☆◦ 。／｜＼。◦☆

The intercom gave a heavy buzz, and static-y noises ran amok over the building before a voice actually came through the speakers.

"Hello, Teachers, Students, and Faculty. Welcome back to school. We hope that you all enjoyed your holidays and got the rest you needed to pay attention in class today," the last part was passive. Your principal gave more announcements for clubs and sports around the school, such as upcoming games or reminders for students to buy the school yearbook.

You were nodding along interested, or looking for interest really when something caught your best friend's attention.

"The school will also be hosting its first-ever play, Romeo and Juliet. Interested people should report to the music room before the end of the week to receive information."

You saw Daniel's eyes widen only moments before he spoke up. "Hey," he waved at you. "You should audition!"

"Daniel, are you insane?"

He chuckled, "No, but I think you'd like it."

You tried arguing, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. "You're the one who said you didn't know what you wanted to do after you graduated. Doing this cannot hurt."

"Yeah, it can't hurt until I trip on my costumes and break my neck!"

"That rarely ever happens," he said exasperatedly. "Ok, how about this? You audition, and if you end up getting a role and actually doing the play, I'll give you fifty pounds."

You squinted. "Do you even have fifty pounds to give me?"

"Do you even have to ask," he feigned shock in the accusation? You gave a sour face before he truthfully answered. "Fine, I don't have it now. But I will by the time the play comes around."

"What do I get just for auditioning?"

"I'll convince my mum to make that cake you like."

"Fine."

"BUT!" he exclaimed. "You have to audition for Juliet."

"You're kidding?"

He laughed. "No, I'm not. You have to audition for Juliet."

"I hate you," you mumbled before sighing a whispered 'fine.'

He gave a toothy smile. "Then we have a deal."

☆◦ 。＼｜／。◦☆

Auditions

☆◦ 。／｜＼。◦☆

You reluctantly walked onto the stage, Daniel's widening grin so visible in the audience. He said that he only put his name on the audition sheet so he could watch the auditions. He would've already been gone by the time it was his turn.

"Hello, My name is Y/n L/n, and I am auditioning for Juliet," your lips pressing into a straight line after saying the sentence.

You stammered through your first few lines. "Sh-Shall I speak ill of him— that is my husband?" You said with a laugh.

"Ah," you paused and clicked your tongue. "Poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name… When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?"

You said your following line in an accusatory manner. "But wherefore, villain... didst thou kill my cousin?" you said, though your voice squealed trying to pronounce 'didst.' "That villain cousin would have killed my husband."

"Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring!" Your voice rose and fell several octaves. "Your tributary drops belong to woe, Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy." Fake tears spring to your eyes, your voice cracked, and you began slowly falling against an invisible wall.

You looked down at your paper for what to say next. "My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain; And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband. All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?" You wiped your cheeks dramatically.

"Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death, That murd'red me. I would forget it fain;" your lips quivered, and you sucked in deep, heaving breaths before speaking your line.

"But O, it presses to my memory. Like damnèd guilty deeds to sinners' minds! 'Tybalt is dead, and Romeo--banishèd!" You shouted.

You stood back up in a startling jump, and with a proud smile, you said triumphantly, "And Scene!"

The directors and some students in the audience, especially Daniel, gave a round of applause before the director dismissed you.

You took the steps to the stage and sat next to Daniel as the director called the next student to audition.

"You were amazing! The director might as well have given you the role right then and there."

You laughed, "Hang on, charmer. There were a bunch of Juliet's who literally said that entire thing so… fluently. I stammered through the whole thing."

"But you showed more emotion than anyone else. You only had a week to prepare. The actual show will be like child's play."

"They want people who can memorize and recite. The emotion can be added later, but it's worth nothing if they forget their lines."

"There is such a thing called improvising for a reason," he reassured.

"Who in their right, bloody minds wants to improvise Shakespeare?"

He turned his head and chuckled before waving a five-pound note in front of your face. "Here, I got to go before they call me, but you earned this at least."

"Five pounds for being forced to audition for a stupid play so you can prove a point? Wow, you must really fancy me, huh, Sharman?" you said sarcastically.

"Goodbye, L/n," he whispered before sneaking out the back door of the auditorium.

"Alright, next up. Daniel Sharman!" The director shouted your friend's name a few more times before giving up.

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Headmasters Office

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A week after your audition, you were called to the headmasters' office. Thus is the cause of the curious looks from your classmates. Oohs and Aahs flooded your ears as you grabbed your bag and headed out the door to the front of the school.

When you got to the front of the building and went into the headmasters' office, you saw the Theatre director, Ms Parker, standing behind the desk. "Headmaster Leo allowed me to use his office to do this. Isn't that cool?"

Ms Parker was one of the younger teachers in school. She was twenty-four, and this was her first year teaching after receiving her bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in music production. A fact she could astoundingly ramble about for fifteen minutes. As proven at the auditions.

"I didn't want to call you to the theatre room. That would be too predictable, correct?" You'd come to realize she was a very eccentric woman. "I have called you in here to inform you that you have been selected to perform in this year's play of Romeo and Juliet."

A wave of shock coursed through your body, and you were sure it reflected on your face. "Are you sure?"

"Darling, I'm positive!- your audition was totally spectacular! So brilliant-in fact- that I am completely sure in my choice to make you our female lead- Juliet!"

"What!" Your eyes widened into a blank stare. Your thoughts were running rampant in your mind. You thought that performing on the stage would be a breeze when you weren't the lead.

"Ms Parker, I didn't actually want the part of Juliet! It's just that my friend dared me to audition for Juliet! Is there no way I can get a smaller part? I'm no Juliet. The show would be ruined," you rambled.

The directors' facial expressions softened, "Darling, you are the only choice. None of the other people who auditioned can even compare to the amount of passion you produced in that audition. I am determined to have you as our Juliet."

You whimpered out an "Ok." Professors had a strange way of convincing you to do extra credit assignments or things that aren't necessary.

"We have a chemistry read for you and a few of our other choices for Romeo after school today. Do you need to contact a parent to let them know where you'll be?"

"Uh, yes, please."

After you made your call, you walked back to your classroom with shaky hands. The class period was almost over, but you had to tell Daniel that you had gotten a part in the show. Not just any part- THE PART!

You shuffled into the classroom reluctantly. All eyes were on you as every student had assumed you'd been in trouble. Either suspended, expelled, or told your parents were going to have a sit-down with the headmaster.

You took your seat next to Daniel before taking out a piece of paper and writing out a note, encompassing the words, "I got the part!"

You slid the sheet discreetly onto his desk. When he read it, his eyes widened, and he quietly moved his hands toward yours, beckoning for a high five.

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First Rehearsal

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After the chemistry read, the role of Romeo was given to a kid named James Mercer-Allen got the part. Though it was more because the directors were starting to become tired.

The next day was the first rehearsal. Swimming season was last semester, so there was no clash in schedules with the play.

"Alright, this rehearsal is to get acquainted with the stage, your fellow actors, and directors," she insisted. "Now, let's introduce ourselves. Can our Romeo please stand up?"

James stood up and gave a brief introduction. You were called on next. You stated your name, "I was on the swim team last semester, and I'm in my thirteenth year. I hope I can do this role justice."

More students stood up to introduce themselves. The entire process took more than thirty minutes.

The next thing to happen was that the rest of the students were called to recite lines for various roles. The only parts that had been cast preliminarily were Romeo and Juliet.

You and James had sat on the wooden stools unless there was a scene going on that needed Romeo and/or Juliet.

By the end of the first rehearsal, the majority of the speaking roles were cast. You went home exhausted but not expecting the conversation that waited for you.

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The Talk

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"We're moving?" you shouted at your parents from your seat across from them in the sitting room. "What do you mean we're moving."

"Honey, your dad got a job in the states, so we have to move," your mother argued.

"But what about school? No school will take me in the middle of the year, and it's my last year of secondary school. I don't want to spend the rest of my last year knowing nobody."

Your dad, the man of the hour, spoke up. "Dear, we're moving at the end of the year. After school ends."

"But- What about Uni?"

"You said you were taking a sabbatical year!"

"Yes, so I could intern in London!"

"Can't you intern in California?" Your mother whined.

"We're going to California? It's the furthest state?"

Your dad attempted to reassure you but failed. "Darling, it won't be that bad. Maybe you'll like it there more than you like it here!"

"I could never like anywhere more than I like it here!"

You agreed to go to your room and spent the rest of the day there. Later on, after you finished moping, you ringed up your closest friends to tell them you were moving. You did that until you were so tired you fell asleep on the phone with Sarah before you even called Daniel.

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Confrontation

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"Why am I hearing from everyone besides you that you're moving?" Daniel appeared out of thin air behind you, and the accusation was an assault on your conscience.

You could lie and tell him that you wanted to reveal that to him in person, or you could just tell him the truth- say you fell asleep. Mix-and-Match? You ended up just telling the truth. "I fell asleep when I was making some of my other calls. I was going to tell you, I swear!"

"Why didn't you call me first. I'm your best friend?"

"That's why! It was too hard. I kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off because I didn't want to tell you, I don't want it to be true, and telling you of all people would make it feel real."

"Why can't you stay for Uni?"

"I already told my parents I was taking a gap year. I didn't apply to any colleges."

"Crap!" he sighed. "Ok, well, we're going to have to make the most of it. And! You're getting a going away party!"

"Daniel, I don't need-"

"No debate! You are getting a going away party!"

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Opening Night

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Four months later, after all the rehearsals and memorizations of lines. After much running around the entire film department, it was finally opening night, and your nerves were shot.

You were scrambling all morning to find everything you needed. All your costumes were at the school, but you still needed to bring your black leotard, skin-coloured tights, and wear your hair in an up-do style.

You decided to do your skincare routine, but your panic got the best of you, and you forgot what every single product was used for.

Daniel came over and helped you get ready but found you practically hyperventilating.

Your parents drove you both to the theatre, and when Ms Parker told you that Daniel couldn't be backstage, you promptly told her that he was your emotional support. After much arguing, she finally let him backstage.

Around an hour before showtime, the director told Daniel that he had to go wait in the audience if he already bought his ticket or that he had to go do it now.

Before he left, he gave you a pep-talk. "Hey, so one time, I was in this play, and the idea was that I was expelled, and there was a piece of paper I had to give my 'mother,' but I lost it. So we had to improvise, but I couldn't find the paper, and I felt horrible. So just know, even if you forget your lines, you must improvise, and remember, it still probably won't compare to the embarrassment I felt that day. So you can laugh at my humiliation. "

You chuckled, "I will. Ok, go before you get in trouble."

"Ok, me, our parents and all your friends will be in the front row. I've already reserved the entire row. I brought a whole bag of jackets just for that reason!"

"You can't do that," you said in between cackles.

"For you, I'll do anything," he grinned.

A few hours later and the show was almost done. "What's here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end," you wept.

"O, churl! Drunk all and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss thy lips; Haply some poison yet doth hang on them, to die with thine restorative." You leaned over James and let your hair fall to the side of your head to cover your face. You pulled back without actually kissing James.

"Thy lips are warm."

A whispery voice came from offstage, "Which way?" The cue for you to take the poison, which was actually cranberry juice.

"Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!" You grabbed the dagger and brought it near your chest. "This is thy sheath;" you drew the fake knife back three inches from your chest and stabbed it to where the bag of more cranberry juice was and punctured the bag. 'Blood' soaked through your dress. "There rust, and let me die." You fell dramatically onto the altar and waited for the scene to end as the crowd cheered.

After the show, you dashed into the crowd where your friends and family waited for you. Ovations and Applauses were passed, lauded boxes of chocolates and gorgeous roses were given.

When you got to Daniel, he practically tackled you with a hug. "I actually thought you died for a split second. The blood looked so real."

"Daniel, most people don't bleed that fast, do they?"

"I don't know but fear kicked in, and I couldn't make sense of anything."

You grinned and almost went to your parents before Daniel grabbed your arm. "You don't have a date to the Leavers ball, do you?"

"No, I don't. Why?"

He sighed. "Well, I was thinking that you could go with me. I don't have a date either."

You squinted, thinking there was some ulterior motive behind his actions. "Ok, I'll go with you if you give me the money you owe me before then."

"It's right here," he smiled.

Your face scrunched up, but you reluctantly agreed. You only had a month of school left, and you might as well spend it having fun with your friends.

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The Leavers Ball and the Getaway Party

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You were dressed in a light blue, pleated, Mikado prom dress that cut off at mid-thigh. You had black wedges on your feet and a black pearl-beaded bracelet on your arm.

You were wearing a half-up, half-down style that framed your face and a silver necklace with a circle-shaped diamond.

You were sitting in the parlour when Daniel rang the doorbell. He was ten minutes late.

"Sorry," he said when your dad answered it. "I know I'm late. I was picking up Kat and James."

Kat and James were your and Daniel's respective friends who'd started last year after you and Daniel introduced them.

"Hi," you popped out of the shadows. "Alright, Mom, Dad, we're late, so we're just going to get goi-"

"Wait! I have to take pictures! Go get Kat and James."

"No, Mom. No pictures!"

"It's only right. I just want a few. We can take it outside."

You sighed but reluctantly caved into your mother's will.

The four of you took pictures outside of Daniel's Jeep Wrangler. You took ones with silly faces, just girls, just boys, and ones with all four of you before your parents allowed you to leave.

You were forty minutes late, and the ball was already in full swing by the time you got there.

You got on the dance floor immediately because one of your favourite songs was playing, but the DJ switched the song as soon as you found a decent spot. It was a slow song. You chuckled, and Daniel put his hands on your waist.

"Well, this is awkward."

A few minutes later, Daniel posed an interesting question.

"Did you know that I had a crush on you when you first came to school?"

"Uh, you stammered. "No, I didn't know that."

"Yeah, I did. It was short, though. Surface-level."

"Oh," you said. "Should I take offence to that?"

"What?" His eyes widened in realization with what he said. "No, that's not what I meant. You have an amazing personality. I just meant that… I just meant I like you more as a friend than to ruin that with any of those feelings."

"Oh, ok. You wouldn't have, though."

"I wouldn't?"

"No, everyone needs an ego boost every once in a while."

"Haha!"

"And besides, I've had feelings for you at one point too. But it was very cliche, so I tried to shake it as hard as I could."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows. "And did you?"

"Like I said, as hard as I could. If it's still there somewhere, it's buried very deep, so much so that I was embarrassed."

"Embarrassed to like me?"

"I mean embarrassed to try and make my life seem like some movie."

"Oh, well, if you did, it would've just made you that much better as an actress. Speaking of that, would you consider acting in the least?"

"Maybe, now that I'm leaving, it's basically the last thing I have to connect me to you."

"No," he said, pointing to your bracelet. "You have that."

You had forgotten that it was Daniel who gave it to you, but the realization brought a smile to your face. "Oh yeah, I'll never take it off."

Later on, long before the ball ended, you saw many of your friends leaving.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Daniel approached you.

"Where is everyone going?"

He wriggled his eyebrows. "Afterparty!"

"But it's not over?"

"Quit being a party popper and just come with us, L/N!"

You gave in, something you did a lot, and you all started driving. When you got there, you realized you were at Daniel's house.

"The afterparty is at your house?" you asked.

"Well…" James answered.

Kat joined in. "It's really an afterparty!"

"This is your going away party!" Daniel finished.

"But I'm not going away for another month."

"Well, now you have an entire month for people to give you gifts and stuff, and you don't have to worry about the party!" He reasoned.

"But why did it have to be after the Leavers ball?"

"Because you're already in a dress, and it has to be a surprise! Surprise!" Kat exclaimed.

"Alright, fine!"

The entire night you partied and danced, and though you didn't drink alcohol, plentiful amounts of pop and mocktails were passed around. The music was a delight to your ears with all your favourite songs. There were chips and pizza with all your favourite toppings.

"This party is awesome!"

Daniel grinned. "Well, I am an amazing party planner if I do say so myself."

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Airport

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Daniel's parents drove your family to the airport. Your parents had sold the car. Your dad would return in a week to close a deal on the house. Everything was official, and now you were leaving.

You got out of the car, and the tears forcefully began to fall.

"I'm really gonna miss you, jerk," you said disdainfully to Daniel.

He chuckled. "I'm going to miss you more."

"Impossible!"

He wiped the fallen tear from your eye, and for a moment, you could see every single multi-coloured speck in his eyes and noticed how sometimes they looked blue, and at others, they looked grey or green.

You noticed the curvature of his smile and the chisel of his jawline.You saw the hurt in his eyes that said, 'why do you have to go? You're killing me,' and wanted to never move from that position.

He continued to rub the tears that fell onto your cheek, and the sad moment was as sheltered as it could be. You felt safe with him, in his arms, just looking at his face and being reminded of how he comforted you in a place that felt as familiar as Oz felt to Dorothy.

"What am I gonna do without you?" you whispered.

"Get at least one acting job, get an assistant and an agent, I'll do the same thing, and then either one of us has our assistants reach out to our agents, so we get back in touch in case we ever lose touch."

He sounded so grave that you couldn't help but laugh. "That's assuming I do become an actress, Daniel."

"You're right," he whined. "But don't forget me."

"I promise."

And you tried to keep that promise. Throughout your first year, you interned at UCLA, working in the lab. You then applied to go to school there, and you still tried to keep Daniel in your mind. Maintaining a social life on campus combined with schoolwork already wasn't easy. However, you still wouldn't let yourself forget your best friend.

It wasn't until you entered your senior year and you were about to graduate that he started to wane in your memories. The things you did together became obsolete as new friends and memories replaced the old. The things he taught you were thrown out to make space for the new lessons you learned each day.

Even when you did become an actress, you never really remembered why you decided to. You remembered that your friend pushed you to do that play, but it was almost ten years ago, and for the life of you, you couldn't remember his name.

But you did do it, first as an extra, then a body double, and then you started getting l roles on smaller shows. But your big break was getting a quasi-lead role on the spin-off of a big television show, The Walking Dead. For two years, you enjoyed going to conventions and playing the complex character, Valeria Bishop, and you thought you had it all figured out.

But life has a funny way of coming full circle and throwing you a curveball that knows you off course and changes your life.

[feathersandfoxtails]

NYC highlights

Shows and graves and kisses

Hamilton highlights:

Love the pride Playbill!

OMG Y'ALL I SAW THE THING LIVE.

Every moment was glorious. I was in the second row of the balcony which was PERFECT. I could see everything. I think I spent most of the show watching the characters on the second level. Because there is almost always someone up there watching the main action, which is so incredibly interesting. Angelica and Eliza watch Hamilton a lot from up there. The ensemble comes in and out of every corner constantly.

Miguel Cervantes is a fantastic Hamilton. Nik Walker's Burr was cheeky as fuck. The longest applause was for Tamar Greene bringing down the fucking house as Washington during "One Last Time." Krystal Joy Brown's Eliza was so heartbreakingly hopeful.

I (only) cried twice. First when Mandy Gonzalez sang "Satisfied" because she is a goddess and I got to worship her. Then I just fucking sobbed at the end. I almost always cry or tear up just listening to the last few songs, but seeing it live was just so beautiful. Eliza was reaching a hand towards the audience and just before the blackout, her gasp echoed.

In short, it was perfect and I want to see it a million more times.

I also visited some of the characters!

I'm a taphophile and kept trying to visit Trinity Church but it was closed last time I was in NYC. The graveyard is a gorgeous stroll.

On Sunday I saw the matinee of A Strange Loop, which was pretty good. Didn't blow me away story wise, but the actors were absolutely fantastic.

Sunday night I experienced Sleep No More for the second time. The first time was maybe five years ago with @oonajaeadira. I found some creepy art while waiting to enter:

If you don't know what Sleep No More is, here is a brief description, but I highly encourage you to look it up! It is an immersive theatrical experience where you don a mask, are not allowed to speak, are thrown into five floors of a dark and spooky warehouse, and where characters vaguely portray the plot of MacBeth.

I didn't see ANY scenes I had seen the first time. I could tell some things had been reworked/redesigned since covid. I did get a one-on-one scene, where Hecate pulled me into a dark room and told me a creepy story. I didn't realize until well after I left that she left me a parting gift:

All in all, a lovely day and half jaunt.

[who-is-friend-and-who-is-foe]

Sleep No More #15-17

So a series of weird visits over a short few days. This was around the time where a close friend of mine was leaving NYC, and in addition to doing a visit with them, I found myself retreating to the McKittrick as a source of familiar comfort. I have found the hotel has definitely transformed over time to be a place that seems more and more intimate with every visit, and even despite three pretty off-feeling visits, there were moments -- as always -- of delight and beauty.

Some highlights and vignettes:

Jeff Docimo's Boy is an absolute star of the show. His ability and versatility in the many roles that he takes on is beyond talented, and carries so much to the show. His crazed dance on the table as the rave is starting after Hecate's scream filled with fantastic awe. I also caught a white mask going hard during the rave himself which was amusing to see. In another show, Jeff as Fulton WALKED ON THE CEILING in the duet with Taxi. I will never not put it past Jeff to do some crazy impossible-seeming acrobatic.

While Jeff's movements are dynamic and full-forced, Jack Blackmon's Boy (can you guess my favorite character) is almost serpentine in his dance, twirling and snaking all over the lost luggage room before pressing me against the door. His shower scene is particularly poignant and the fall from the playful character earlier in the loop is quite apparent.

Nate Carter's Macbeth is a feat to be seen. A very rare treat that I was privy to see, his dynamic duet with Lady Macbeth post party was absolutely brutal as they slammed each other into walls and over shelves. His murder of Banquo is particularly savage, and it feels like he is putting all the energy he can muster into that brick slam. When he staggers from behind the speakeasy bar, you can see him gasping for energy, almost broken from the murder of his confidant.

Two white masks were pushed into the interrogation room with me as Andy Talen and Ernesto Breton began their duet, and for a few seconds, it seemed like the black mask in the room was going to have to let them out after they repeatedly yanked on the room. But the combo of Andy/Ernesto absolutely dominated -- I believe I've seen Ernesto the most in this scene, and he never misses.

Mallory Gracenin's Hecate serenading me to Is That All There Is? has to be a top 5 intimate moment for me. Having such a powerful performer stare at you with such intensity, forcing themselves to cry as their eyes remain fixed boring into you is something you can only get in this show. Followed by an electric 1:1 and a marked mask only felt like the cherry on top to a phenomenal lip sync.

Walkouts with Doug Burkhardt's Fulton, Evan Fisk's Banquo, and Brandon Coleman's Porter honestly were some of my favorite ways to end the show. There is such an intimate tenderness in these walkouts that you can't even get in 1:1s that I have found myself hanging around the fourth floor more on the last loop to try to get.

[authenticdesperation]

A Review of Every Single Episode of Inside No. 9 [1/2]

Disclaimer: my opinions are not definitive but they are bloody good. There may be spoilers so read at your own risk. This will probably have to be a two-parter for the sake of my sanity and your scrolling.  

Series 1

1. Sardines 

A killer way to kick off a series with an absolutely top notch cast. This episode probably wins the award for the episode I’ve spent the most time thinking about after watching, putting all the little things that went over my head at first into place. I love the set design in this episode as well with everything seeming delightfully old fashioned. 

2. A Quiet Night In

This episode is something of a masterclass in farce and it is a Bold Move to have the second episode of a new series almost completely free of dialogue. It’s dirty, it’s fully of silly slapstick and it’s a nice change of pace after the rather harrowing ending to the first episode. 

3. Tom and Gerri 

This is an episode I enjoyed more when I thought about it more. It beautifully shows the decline of Tom’s mental health (acted impeccably, lovely work from Reece) due to grief. Also it was quite nice to see Reece and Steve acting opposite each other more, they have great chemistry together and Steve as Migg is perfectly unsettling. 

4. Last Gasp

Now, I have to be honest with you: I do not exclusively have glowing praise for this episode. I enjoyed it far more after watching it more than once as I liked the humour of it. One of my favourite things was the video camera perspective at the start, as well as some lovely moments with the music. However, I’m not overly keen on the ending, I just found it slightly underwhelming. 

5. The Understudy

Back on the praise train kids! I am a big old Shakespeare nerd (as are Reece and Steve, apparently) and I studied Macbeth for my GCSEs so I was particularly excited when I watched it. I will also have to give a little nod to the directing of this episode, it was an absolute feast for the eyes. 

6. The Harrowing

Oh hell yes (no pun intended). I think this episode is a great one to cap off the first series, really demonstrating the versatility of Steve and Reece. Also, I’m a big horror fan and the entire atmosphere of it really appealed to me. Though I would say that the second I saw that house I would have run about fifteen miles in the opposite direction.

Series 2

1. La Couchette

This episode is very similar to Sardines in the sense that it feels rather claustrophobic, but this time it leans far more towards the comedy side of things rather than drama. Bonus points for Steve demonstrating his German skills. 

2. The 12 Days of Christine

Ah yes, the episode I’ve cried at every time I’ve watched it. This one is a strong demonstration of how to wrong foot an audience: you never quite know what’s going on until towards the end and all of the horror-esque moments just add to the confusion making the ending one hell of an emotional gut-punch. I wouldn’t watch it if you need something to cheer you up, though.

3. The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge

My second favourite episode of series two, The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge is packed to the brim with silly puns and smutty jokes. I personally predicted the twist but in this case I don’t think it really mattered as I was too busy enjoying the Horrible Histories for adults thing that was going on. Bonus points for another killer cast.

4. Cold Comfort

The first of two episodes directed by Steve and Reece and really quite a bold one at that. The whole thing is filmed in the style of a CCTV feed, which I’m pretty sure an experienced director would warn you off trying, but it really pays off in the narrative. Since the camera doesn’t switch focus at any point, it really relies on the acting performances to keep your focus which, in my opinion, the cast fucking nailed.

5. Nana’s Party

If I had to describe the episode in two words they would be ‘domestic drama’. It’s a fairly classic setup of a family with their fair share of secrets, namely adultery and alcoholism, but happily doesn’t give the game away too early and a layer of humour is added by the slightly irritating prankster character of Pat. It’s the second episode of the series directed by Steve and Reece and has a sort of understated quality to it, showing Claire Skinner’s character’s exacting nature above a layer of familial drama. 

6. Séance Time

My favourite episode of series two, at first you think you’re walking into another haunted house scenario until you find out it’s a prank show that went off the air due to a scandal. There’s a great sense of humour throughout, and I don’t know whether I’m easily freaked out or the final jumpscare was genuinely terrifying but I flew about fifteen feet into the air when I saw it. Once I’d peeled myself off the ceiling, I really appreciated that it felt like a slow burn horror despite still only being half an hour. 

Series 3

1. The Devil of Christmas

I live for schlocky horror films that are so cheesy they give you nightmares if you watch them before bed. So the 1970s film within the episode, accompanied by a director’s commentary-cum-police interview performed by Derek Jacobi, was an absolute treat. The story of Krampus is one that has been done a lot, but never as a snuff film (as far as I know) so it was a nice little twist.

2. The Bill

Every time I rewatch Inside No. 9 this is the episode I always have to watch no matter what. It is such a simple premise and it feels slightly reminiscent of the Geoff, Mike and Brian sketches from The League of Gentlemen. Now is probably the moment where I should sing the praises of director Guillem Morales who has, quite frankly, become my personal hero having seen the many, many episodes of this series he’s directed. The framing in this episode is absolutely genius, but it’s only really obvious after you’ve watched it a few times and I have to give kudos for making a dialogue-heavy episode visually interesting. There are jokes that I think about at least twice a week and I am obsessed with Jason Watkins’ acting...I think this will be my longest review of this whole post. 

3. The Riddle of the Sphinx

This is the best episode I will never watch again. I love horror, and I’ve watched some bone-chilling films but something about this episode made me feel so uncomfortable. It is also a real testament to Steve Pemberton, who I’m led to believe is the cryptic crossword fan who took the lead writing this episode, that he wrote something involving cryptic crosswords that didn’t give me a migraine. 

4. Empty Orchestra

Ah, what a nice change of pace after the last episode with something far lighter. The karaoke booth concept is so fun and I’ve never understood the criticism of the episode. That being said, of every single antagonist in every single episode of Inside No. 9, Connie is the character I love to hate the most. All of the characters feel more like people you’ve met before and the vibe of a group of work colleagues in a karaoke booth going through the usual petty drama feels familiar. I think series three is one that has some of the darkest concepts and this is a great exception to that. 

5. Diddle Diddle Dumpling

When I looked in the background more while rewatching this episode, I noticed a lot of things were in twos. I can only assume that was a deliberate choice made somewhere along the line, and one that pays off when you notice it. Both Mat Baynton and Keeley Hawes played their parts to perfection, with Mat really doing quite a lot with a fairly small part. The whole episode reads as an interesting analysis of grief, in a similar sense to Tom and Gerri. Also, Reece’s character did not murder the remaining twin and apparently I’m the weirdo for thinking that was what was being implied. In my defence, there was cannibalism earlier in the series; filicide did not seem like that big of a leap.

6. Private View 

Agatha Christie eat your heart out (that wasn’t meant to be a reference to the ending, it’s just a happy accident). Murder mysteries are my absolute jam so I am obsessed with this episode. The modern art show is such a great setting for a whodunnit as demonstrated by the reaction to the discovery of Peter Kay’s character’s body. All the characters have their brilliant little quirks, and the killer is revealed at the perfect time and it was a good idea to not make that reveal the twist. 

[mgg-theprettiestboy]

cross my heart (pt. 4)

spencer reid x oc

‘to secure peace, is to prepare for war.’ 

karl von clausewitz

cross my heart masterlist

word count: 2836

Spencer decided he didn't want to just be a casual acquaintance any more. He had almost died on his most recent case, and while this was a more common occurrence, something about this time was different. And he decided not to waste any more time, and to stop being such a chicken.

He offered a small smile to Raye from across the cafe once he saw her. It was ten at night, which was fairly early for both of them to be there. She held up the book she was reading, making him grin as he saw it. She had finally agreed to give War And Peace a read, and was slowly making her way through it.

He could only pretend to read, his own thoughts distracting him. There was an open lecture that he knew she would be interested in, and had already reserved two seats. Now, he just had to build up the confidence to ask.

It took him an hour.

But eventually, Spencer had finished his book a hundred times over, and his coffee had gone cold. There was no more avoiding it. He stood, walking over to Raye’s table. Her tongue was sticking out of the side of her mouth as she focused on her book, and Spencer had to bite back a laugh when she jumped in surprise, “oh! You scared me!”

“Sorry, I’m sorry. You were very engrossed,” he said with a fond smile. She smiled in return, “yeah, well, a book like this requires all my attention. I still have to google what half the words mean.”

He chuckled, before they fell into a kind of awkward silence. Spencer cleared his throat, before speaking again, “I was actually wondering... uh. There’s an open lecture on this weekend, it’s called ‘The Queen of English Literature Debate,’ Jane Austen versus Emily Bronte. The guest lecturer is flying in all the way from Scotland to travel around America, giving the lecture in different universities, and from the reviews I’ve read on it, it’s supposed to be amazing. Is that... something you would be interested in going to? Maybe with me?”

Raye blinked up at him, before her lips parted, as if she was going to say something, but then didn't. She repeated this a few times. Spencer was confused if he had rendered her speechless, or if she was having a stroke.

“Are you asking me out?” She eventually managed to choke out. He furrowed his eyebrows, before nodding, “yeah, I am. If thats okay.”

As if she finally realised what was happening, her eyes zoned in on hid face, and her expression softened at seeing his confused one, “I’m sorry, I just... it’s been a while. I don't go on a lot of dates. That sounds weird, I just mean that I don't get asked out a lot.”

His lips quirked up at her nervous rambling, before shaking his head, “I didn't think it sounded weird. I don't either. Go on a lot of dates, that is.”

She sighed softly in relief, before smiling softly, “so, Austen vs Bronte, huh? What do you think? Who’s the Queen?”

“I like to go into these sorts of debates with an unbiased opinion. I don't really favour one or the other, and I like to see if the lecturer can sway me. They usually can't, but its always fun,” he said with a chuckle, “it’s on Saturday, at Georgetown University. I could meet you here, say at three, and we can walk together?”

Raye smiled and nodded at the suggestion, “that sounds perfect.”

“Okay, perfect, great,” he said with a grin, “I will see you then.” His choice of words was not reflecting his intellect right now. He had a stupid grin on his face as he fumbled his way back to his table, collecting his things to leave and go home, and actually sleep for once. But the butterflies in his stomach thought otherwise, and he figured he it would be a struggle to fall asleep. Not that he was complaining.

–

“That was intense. Seriously, Spencer, that had me sweating!”

Spencer laughed as he walked alongside Raye as they left the lecture hall, “right? The professor was flawless with his criticisms. I don’t think I can decide who wins though, Bronte or Austen.”

“Hmm, me neither. I mean, I’ve always had a soft spot for Austen, but Bronte is just so damn good,” Raye said with a frown, “but in saying that, I wrote my college dissertation on Austen, so I guess the at already picks for me.”

“You wrote your dissertation on Jane Austen?” Spencer looked to her in surprise, as she grinned and nodded, “mhm. A cross analysis of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship, to the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It was genius, to be honest, an easy A. There was so much content, I could write for days on end and never run out of things to say.”

He laughed as she did, nodding in agreement, “that’s.... wow. I would love to read it, sometime.”

She glanced to him in surprise, nodding slowly with a blush, “I mean, it’s not brilliantly written. It didn’t get top marks or anything–“

“Hey,” he cut her off by taking her hands in his, looking down at her as her wide eyes looked up to him, “I bet it’s amazing. It sounds interesting, really.”

She bit her bottom lip, and tried to ignore the way Spencer’s eyes darted down to her mouth when she did, “okay. I’ll print off a copy of it for you sometime.”

“Great,” he said with a smile. He moved one of his hands away, but kept his other hand on hers. She blushed lightly, moving her hand to curl around his and hold it. He felt his heart leap at her returning the gesture, smiling softly at her, before looking down at his feet, “I had a good time today. I know we didn't exactly do a lot of talking for a first date, but...”

He didn't know what else to add, but he didn't have to, as she laughed, “don't be silly, I had fun. Besides, I already feel like I know you... is that weird to say?”

“No, not at all. I feel like I know you too. I suppose it’s from the books,” Spencer said as they left the lecture hall. He didn't know where they were walking to, but he wasn't about to complain. He didn't want the day to end. She furrowed her brow, “what do you mean?”

“I mean, from reading the books you enjoy, I feel like I know you,” he said with a shrug. Raye hummed, “oh yeah? Go ahead then. What am I like?”

He laughed slightly, looking ahead of them as he spoke, “you're a romantic; thats an obvious one. You love adventure, you love to escape through books. You hate horror, and anything scary, and you hate sad endings. You empathise with the bad guys. So, from all of this, I can tell that you’re sweet. You probably love animals, and definitely love children. You won't do something big unless you're pushed to, because as much as you love adventure, you only get it through reading. And you’ve... you’ve probably been hurt before, maybe by someone you care about or someone you know. Because you empathise with the villain, even when they're in the wrong. You’re considerate. And definitely a scardey-cat.”

Raye stayed silent as he profiled her through her book choices, and afterwards. Spencer immediately felt regret rise in him. He couldn't believe that he already screwed it up on the first date. He tried to apologise, “I-I didn't mean to-”

“I haven't been hurt by someone close to me, but I have been hurt, in a... in a strange way. But... I mean, I always try to see the best in people, no matter what. As difficult as that sometimes is,” she said. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb lightly, a look of curiosity on her face, “how did you figure all that out from the books I read?”

He relaxed at seeing that he didn't offend her, offering her a small smile, “I’m good at what I do.”

She was about to ask what he meant, before he let go of her hand to open the door for her. It was only then she realised they had managed to wander back to The Hideout. She smiled and went inside, going over to find a free table. It was busy, considering it was Saturday afternoon, and not the middle of the night.

He ordered two hot chocolates, figuring it was a safe bet, before going to the table to sit across from her, “I ordered two hot chocolates, I hope that’s okay.”

Raye smiled and nodded, “of course it is. I have a sweet tooth.”

“Me too. I always add an unhealthy amount of sugar to my coffee,” Spencer said, and she gasped, “me too! Tamara always scolds me, she says all my teeth will fall out. I also put a bunch of milk in it too. God, I don't know how people drink it without milk. It’s gross!”

“I completely agree!” He said, as they both laughed. He had the urge to talk her hand again. “I had a lot of fun today,” she hummed happily, resting her head in her hand as the hot chocolates were delivered to their table, “seriously. It was so much better than ‘dinner and a movie.’”

“Well, I didn't want to be stereotypical. And the first time I met you, you were literally buried in books, I figured this would be a good idea,” he said with a grin, as Raye scoffed and spluttered, “that wasn't my fault! Tamara loves to mess with me, but I’m too stubborn to give in. Hence my struggle with the bookshelf.”

Spencer laughed, and they continued to talk until they had finished their drinks. While he initially thought they were so similar, he was beginning to see that he wasn't entirely right. Yes, they had their similarities. But she was so much more than he expected. He found out she had a cat, called Dickens (she called him Dick, for short), and he was a ginger tabby cat. He found out she loved house plants, but struggled to keep them alive. Her favourite movie growing up was Peter Pan, and she had a bad habit of buying candles that she doesn't need.

Spencer never wanted the day to end. But sooner rather than later, the sun set on the drizzly November day, and the conversation seemed to come to a natural pause. Raye glanced outside, and cleared her throat she she saw it was dark, and used the moment of silence to say, “I should probably head home. My sleeping schedule... its a little backwards. I’m usually awake at night, and sleep during the day. Because of my work hours.”

Spencer didn't want to, but nodded, “oh, yeah, of course. I never asked, what do you do for a living?”

“I’m in accounting,” she said, smiling slightly. He could tell it was forced, “not my dream job, but hey, a job’s a job.”

“Oh. I could've sworn Tamara said you worked with the stock market, or something,” he frowned. She shrugged it off, “sometimes I do an odd job.”

“Okay. Well... I can walk you home. Which direction are you headed?” Spencer asked as he stood alongside Raye. She began to shake her head, lifting her bag and clutching it to her chest, “no, don't. I mean, I don't need you to do that.”

“No, I insist, really. It’s dark outside, and you never know,” he stressed, as Raye continued to shake her head, reiterated, “I’m telling you, I’ll be fine.” 

“I just want to make sure you get home safe,” Spencer insisted, feeling kind of defeated at her rejection. She didn't seem to notice his reaction, snapping, “I said no!”

They stared at each other for a minute, before Raye just looked away, stuffing her purse and phone into her bag. Spencer tried to ignore the hurt he felt, speaking softly as he put his hands in the pockets of his coat, “I-I’m sorry. I wasn't trying to... to go home with you, or anything, I swear-”

“No, I know,” Raye said, her tone now gentle. She sighed softly, slinging her bag over her shoulder, “I’m just pretty paranoid about my security, I guess. I live alone.”

He nodded slowly, reaching into his satchel and pulling out his badge, “I don't suppose this would ease your worries?”

She furrowed her brow, taking what he handed to her to see what it was. He couldn't ignore the way she seemed to become even more tense at seeing what it was, and the way her hands gripped the badge just a little bit tighter.

All she could say was, “I thought you were a doctor?”

“I-I am. I have three PHDs. None of them are medical, though. I’m with the Behaviour Analysis Unit,” he explained. Raye’s voice was small, “you're a profiler. That explains how you were able to figure me out through books.”

Something about her tone unsettled Spencer. He thought that she would feel safer, knowing that he worked in the FBI. So why was she more alarmed than before?

“I’m so sorry for getting angry,” Raye apologised, smiling guiltily as she handed him his badge back. She ignored the warmth she felt when their hands brushed. Spencer smiled at her, “it’s okay. I’m sorry for trying to force the matter. But you can imagine why.”

She nodded fervently, before growing some confidence and taking his hand in hers, “would you walk me home? I live about three blocks away.”

Spencer felt his heart skip a beat, intertwining their fingers and nodding, as his cheeks began to glow. He stuck close by her side, as they walked down the streets of the city towards her apartment block. They came to a stop outside an old red brick building, but from the front door, Spencer could tell it must be renovated on the inside.

“Today was great,” Raye said tenderly, a warm smile on her face, “really. I had fun. If you’d like, we could do something like this again sometime.”

Spencer returned the smile, “I would love that. As long as you promise to have read War and Peace by then.”

She gawped and laughed, before groaning playfully, “oh come on, it’s just so boring. But for you, I will try. That’s all I can promise.”

“Good enough for me,” he chuckled, looking down at her as they stood face to face. She bit her bottom lip, before letting out a sigh.

“Are you going to kiss me, or am I going inside?” She quipped, as Spencer raised his brows. He smiled ever so slightly, moving to cup her cheek and lean down closer, “I will...”

Raye smiled softly, leaning into his hand as he moved closer so his lips were merely an inch away, “...once you finish the book.”

Her jaw dropped as he moved away, a triumphant smile on his face as she stammered, “you-! I just... that was cruel. Truly, and sincerely cruel. You will pay for that, Doctor, mark my words.”

“I will,” he laughed, lifting her hand that he held to kiss the back of her hand, “but until then, I bid you farewell.”

“Farewell. God knows when we shall meet again,” Raye said, taking a step backwards to walk to her building, as Spencer took a step back too, “Wilde?”

“Shakespeare,” she giggled, as they continued to walk their separate ways. Spencer made sure to stay within sight until he watched her walk through the door. She glanced back once she reached the door, smiling and waving goodbye to him, which he returned with a smile of his own. He was able to walk home with a peace of mind once he had seen her go into her building.

Raye scaled the stairs of her building with a stupid grin on her face, practically skipping up the stairs. It had been so long since her life had felt so normal. So long since she felt like she did right now; like a school girl crushing on a cute boy. She would do anything to make this feeling last forever. She should have known it wouldn't last.

She slowed as she approached her apartment, seeing the door open an inch, her cat sitting at the door.

And just like that, her good mood was completely gone, as she felt her heart stop, and her palms grow sweaty. She never forgot to lock her door. Ever.

She didn’t even bother to go inside, didn’t care to see if anything was missing or gone. She scooped up Dickens into her arms and ran back to the staircase, running all the way down while diling the number of the one person who could help.

–

cliff hangerrrrrr >:)

taglist: @slutforthegubes @pinkdiamond1016 @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @fallinallinmendes @beyonces-breastmilk @spencerlikesapplejuice @pastathighs @gcblers @hushfakebitches @ijustcomeheretoread @thelovelyrose @187-reid @madison-malfoy @averyhotchner @haylaansmi

[traitor-on-board]

There had been a few technical difficulties on the station in the past few days. Lights flickering, coms falling out, doors jamming. Nothing that couldn’t be fixed in less than ten minutes though.

But Sven was still worried about it.

They had spent a lot of time building the rocket and double checking everything before the launch. And now there were so many problems just a few weeks later? He didn’t like that at all.

Their mechanics were taking care of most of the problems. Failing coms were usually fixed by Burt. Hopefully they would soon find the root of the problem.

„Sven?”

He pressed the button on his desk without even looking away from his computer screen. „What is it, Burt?”

„Did you eat breakfast?”

Sven groaned in annoyance „You really called me just to ask that?”

„I take that as a ‘No‘ and that might just be good for you now…“, there was a short pause and Sven could faintly hear the voice of another person „Come down to the engine room“

He got a bad feeling „Don’t tell me the engine is acting up too”

„It is but that’s not the main problem…”

„What is it then?”

„You should see for yourself. Knock an SOS, we’ve locked the doors”

Now he had a really bad feeling about this. He grabbed his jacket and hurried down to the engine room

The door was locked, just like Burt said. The pale face of the Toppat who opened it for him made him feel even more anxious. And the stench that was lingering in the room…

„What happened?”

„We- we have no idea”, he was stammering and seemed a bit weak in the knees when he led his boss to the back of the room „We got an alert that there was a problem with the engine and when we got here…”

He stopped and gestured for Sven to take the last steps without him. He obviously didn’t want to go near whatever was in that corner.

The first thing Sven saw was Burt looking at his tablet and tapping his foot on the metal floor. Another one of their mechanics was leaning against the wall and something was lying on the floor. There was not as much light as Sven would’ve liked to have plus it was covered with a tarp so he couldn’t tell what it was… he had a suspicion but he really didn’t want to be right.

„You found something here?”

Burt looked up from his tablet and nodded „Yeah. You’re not going to like it”

He could already tell that from the stench and the nervous look on the mechanics’ face. Now that he was standing next to Burt he could see what his second-in-command was looking at. It was the footage of one of the security cameras. „I dislike a lot of things…” he murmured before kneeling down to lift up the tarp.

It was a body.

„Herregud…” It wasn’t the first time that Sven saw a dead person, but the ones before were usually just shot. This was… a little bit more. He really was glad he hadn’t eaten anything yet.

„It’s Talinn”, Burt continued to tap his foot, making one of the few sounds besides the humming of the engine „About half an hour ago”

Sven let the tarp fall back down and looked up at him. His eyes were still on the security footage and he was biting his lip. He rarely saw Burt nervous… this really didn’t help his own anxiety about the situation.

„Who found him?”

„We did… came here to check on the engine after getting an alert”, the mechanic paused „Took us maybe five minutes to get here. Engine was fine when we came in… Then we heard a noise from back here and found him”

„What kind of noise?”

The other could only shrugged „Metallic. We think it might’ve been the vent cover moving”

Sven had to look around for a moment to find then vent. It was fairly high up, but not unreachable. And there was a trail of blood leading there.

“So… someone came in and fled through the vents?”

“They might’ve come in through the vents as well. The cameras didn’t catch anyone going in here since last night”, Burt sighed “But the cameras in this area fell out yesterday evening so who knows if someone hid here for this long”

Sven stood up again, not wanting to investigate the mess on the floor any further right now. “What about the camera in here?”

“This corner is a blind spot… Easy to see if you know where the camera is”

“It didn’t catch anything?” They definitely had to fix that then…

“A little bit. It’s not very helpful though…” The raven-haired Toppat tapped a few times on his tablet before turning it around. The screen showed the empty engine room, illuminated by red emergency lighting. A few seconds later Talinn stepped into the picture and looked around, probably checking if he could help with the problem. He wandered around for about a minute before turning the corner, entering the blind spot. Not even a second later his torso fell back into the picture and hit the floor. He was quickly dragged back into the corner. The only thing that was seen from the culprit was a hand that snatched Talinns’ hat and everything looked as if nothing happened.

Burt fast forwarded the footage. The emergency lighting turned off and, true to their word, the mechanics showed up not even five minutes later. They paused and then went straight to the corner, only to stumble back into the picture. The younger one obviously freaking out loudly. The two talked for a moment, calming down slightly before one grabbed a tarp from a nearby toolbox and the other one turned to leave the room. Sven just guessed that he was about to go get someone. He was still barely in the cameras’ view when he stopped, turned again and led Burt to the corner.

“That’s… a lot happening in just a few minutes…”

“We took pictures of everything before calling you”

Yeah… That was the logical thing to do. This was definitely not the scene of an accident. Sven couldn’t imagine what could accidentally slice someones’ stomach and pull out their guts… It was a murder… and the only people on the station all belonged to the clan.

The murderer was another Toppat.

“Call someone down from med bay, we need to get Talinn to the morgue”

“What should I tell them? “

Sven had no idea… “Nothing for now… I want all elites in the meeting room as soon as possible. You two”, he turned to the mechanics “Close off this room. No one is allowed in here as long as the engine is not making any problems. If it does, I want you to take care of it”

Both of them nodded “Yes, chief”

He sighed and looked down at the covered body “And no word about this to anyone yet. We’ll tell them after the meeting...”

 Carol Cross and Mr. Macbeth were the first elites to arrive in the meeting room. And Carol refused to wait for the others. She wanted to know then and there what caused the swede to pace around nervously.

She got very quiet after Burt handed her his tablet with the pictures of the crime scene pulled up.

Sven stopped his pacing and sat down at the head of the table once everyone was seated and the door was closed. “I’m sure by now most of you have seen the photos” Burts’ tablet was still going around the table. “Talinn Circus was killed in the engine room” There was an uncomfortable silence, only interrupted by a silent gasp when the tablet reached the last person. “We don’t have any prisoners on the station… Everyone here is a part of the clan”

“So we’ve got a traitor on board…” Macbeth said grimly.

Sven nodded before continuing “The culprit was not caught on camera and fled through the vents. It’s also possible that they came in through that way.”

“So we have no clues who it could be?” Gene furrowed his eyebrows.

The leader shook his head “All we can do is see who wasn’t in the engine room at the time. If someone was caught by a camera somewhere else they’re cleared”

“That should be a short list then”, Carol was somewhat optimistic “We’ve got cameras in almost every room and corridor”

“We do… but a lot of them weren’t functioning properly or at all” Burt turned around the laptop he had been working on. The footage on the screen was fuzzy and glitching out. There were definitely people but it was very hard to see and identify their faces.

“Cameras falling out conveniently at the same time”, Ahnoldt scoffed “Doesn’t sound like a coincidence to me”

“Most likely not” That was the other thing that made Sven nervous. There was an alert for the engine but when the mechanics got there everything was fine. The emergency lighting had turned off shortly after Talinn had died…

“I always thought sabotaging our systems was impossible” Albert seemed honestly concerned. What else had they been wrong about?

“It’s almost impossible to sabotage them from outside the station”, Burt corrected the older Toppat “This is someone sabotaging from the inside, possibly with granted access to the system”

Macbeth crossed his arms “All that happened can be caused by someone who simply has access to the system? That would be a lot of people”

“Not ‘simply’… You’d need complete access to everything, with administrator rights, to shut off the cameras and coms or close doors like that”, Burt looked down the table “And before someone else points it out, I have both of those things. There’s no proof that I’m not the one messing with everything but I’m cleared for Talinns’ murder”

“You’re not the only one, as third in command I have those rights as well”, Carol added.

“Is it possible to see if someone hacked into our systems?” Sven quickly asked before anybody could start throwing accusations at Carol or Burt.

Burt scratched the back of his neck and looked at the laptops’ screen “Theoretically. It would take a while though to find traces of that. If someone managed to do it then they’re no amateur. Plus, someone still has to look at all the footage that we have to clear as many of us as possible, that’s going to take some time too…”

“Can we even trust you with that?”

“Burt did not kill Talinn!”

“Who’s saying that the saboteur and killer are the same person?”

“Do we have two traitors?”

“Then, are they working together? If so even the people on the cameras wouldn’t be cleared”

Everyone started talking over each other, blaming not only Burt and Carol but also the mechanics and other elites and higher ups. If this was the kind of chaos that these news would cause in the whole clan… They probably shouldn’t tell anyone else yet.

[98prilla]

Abductions, Past and Present

Next

Previous 

AO3

...

He wakes slowly, this time, like drifting upwards, through soft clouds, and he yawns, stretching, barely wincing at the pull in his right side as he blinks his eyes open, rolling over onto his side. He smiles softly, meeting Remus’s eyes, who is sitting by his bedside, eyes widening as he sees what’s in his hands.

 “Rem… Rem is that… is that a book?” He whispers, almost awestruck. Remus nods, smile wide and brighter than it’s ever been.

 “yeah. It’s a collection of Shakespeare plays. Patton brought it to me, a gift from Logan.” Remus frowns at that name, unconsciously rubbing up and down the spine, the feel soft and so distantly familiar beneath his fingers.

 “Logan… Logan’s the one who saved me.” Remus frowns a bit harder at that, sighing.

 “I am aware. He’s also the one who kept us apart for nearly three days and let me believe you had died.” His mouth drops open in a silent ‘oh’, shifting so he’s sitting up in bed.

 “is that what it was? Right before they brought you in here I… panicked. I could feel something was wrong, with you.” Remus snorts, leaning back in his chair.

 “Yeah, me having a complete breakdown and listing all the ways I could kill myself would probably trigger that for ya.”

 “WHAT?!”

 “I thought you were dead, ok!? I don’t… you’re the only thing I have, Ro. And I thought you were gone.” He softens, reaching out a hand, Remus instantly intertwining their fingers, squeezing tight.

 “I’m not. You can’t get rid of me that easily, Rem. I promise.” Remus smiles, a sad, small smile, as he presses their foreheads together.

 “good. You’re a fighter, Ro. You always have been. You’re so much stronger than me, brobro. So much better than me.” Remus pulls back after a long moment, setting the book aside on a small bedside stand.

“If you’re feeling up for it, we can take a little walk. Patton’s been showing me around, and I almost know where I’m going, now.” He laughs, relishing the soft grin across his brother’s face, hand pressing against his injury as he sits up, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. For a moment, the world spins at the change of elevation.

 “Ro? You good?” He nods, letting Remus sling an arm around his shoulders for support as he stands, legs a bit wobbly, but he balances out after a moment, his wound barely protesting as they head out the door and down the hall.

 The ship is made of smooth, softly luminescent metal, that must mimic the day/night cycle automatically. There’s a soft electric hum in the air, a faint hint of static making the hair on his arms stand up.

 “Ro. It’s ok.” He hadn’t realized his breath was speeding up, his hand fisting the fabric of his shirt, and he forces himself to take a few deep breaths in and out. Still, he feels like the corridor is too small, the walls pressing in on him, and he’s endlessly relieved when they reach the end, and the hall widens out into a large communal living space.

 There’s couches, two deep sofa chairs, a few small tables, arranged around the far end of the room. Against the other wall is cabinets and cooking utensils, storage units, obviously the kitchen, an island with a few stools arranged around it. Softly glowing globes sit in alcoves along the walls, lighting the space soothingly, and he gathers from their dimness it must be early evening.  

 “Hey kiddo. It’s good to see you up and about!” He stumbles at the peppy voice, Remus’s arm keeping him steady. “Oh, sorry, bud, didn’t mean to startle you.” The winged man apologizes from the kitchen, where he’s cutting up some kind of fruit.  

 “I-it’s ok.” He mumbles, suddenly shy and nervous, in front of this new person. When was the last time he met an actual new person? What does he say? What is he supposed to say? God, the silence has gone on too long now, anyway.

 “Easy there, I can feel your stress from way over here.” Remus stiffens slightly at that voice, barely repressing a hiss as he glares daggers at the person sitting in the corner of the room, barely visible from the shadows.

 “Play nice, Virgil, or I will make you.” He relaxes a tad at that voice, coming down the hall behind them, as Janus sweeps into the room, giving him a small smile as he passes, draping himself across one of the chairs.

 “I wasn’t doing anything!” Virgil protests, Janus scoffing.

 “Stop it, both of you. Or no dessert.” Both of them sigh dramatically, sinking back in their seats with muttered ‘fines’ or ‘whatevers’, and Roman finds himself smiling again, because this he knows, this bickering back and forth, this instant shutting down of debates, he understands those dynamics.

 “Roman, you already know Janus,” Remus says, and Janus gives a lazy wave and a small smirk, “that pile of shadow in the corner is Virgil, he’s a Wraith.” Remus continues, Virgil giving a small two finger salute. “And that is Feathers! He’s a Seraph.”

 “My actual name is Patton, but you can call me feathers if you like. Or Pat. Or any other nick name you can think of, really!” Patton chirps, wings fluffing happily.  

 “Oh. Okay. Um. Nice to meet you all.” He mumbles, gaze flitting from person to person, before settling on the ground in front of him.  He lets Remus guide him to one of the couches, laughing as he pulls away from his brother’s fussing, wrapping him in a blanket and cushioning him with pillows until he bats his hands away.

 “I’m fine, Rem, I swear. If I’m not comfy I’ll tell you!” Remus laughs as he stops, ruffling Roman’s hair, who splutters indignantly. Remus smiles, leaning back against the soft cushions of the couch, taking a moment to bask in the softness, the warmth, the comfort. Roman leans against him, resting his head on his shoulder, as he reverently picks up the book from Logan.

 “Where should we start, Ro? Romeo and Juliet? Macbeth? Othello?” He inhales the smell of paper and ink, remembering when they would watch performances online, analyze the costumes, the production, they had always loved theater.  

 “No. none of the tragedies, Rem. Something funny.” His eyes light up, as he flips through the book, nearly gasping at the feel of parchment against his fingertips. “There we are. Twelfth Night.”

 “Ah. Good one, Ro. So, shall we pick our characters?”

 “I call Viola/Cesario!”

 “Aw, she’s the best one!” Remus whines, and Roman nudges him.

 “Shut up, you can have Orsino and Olivia.” He placates, Remus sighing dramatically.

 “Fiiine. Let’s go, then!” Remus agrees, excitement lighting up his eyes as they divvy up the rest of the characters.

 It starts off as just reading the lines, but both of them have always been dramatic, and soon they’re creating different voices for the different characters, Remus ends up jumping off the couch, so caught up he starts acting out his scenes, Roman doing the same as best he can from his seat, laughing at Remus’s antics so hard his stomach was aching before they even made it to act two, Remus’s smile and laughter feeding his own.

 Remus is positively aglow, watching Roman laugh, and act, and read, when was the last time he looked so happy, actually laughed, a full bodied, belly aching, laugh? It sounds sweet, so sweet and light and… and carefree, it’s everything he’s ever wanted for his brother, and it makes the knot in his stomach loosen a bit more, because if he’s laughing like this, he really is going to be okay.

 “Don’t mean to break up the party, kiddos, but I’ve got some supper ready, if you feel up to eating.” Patton says, breaking the spell they’ve been weaving of comedic misunderstandings and misplaced crushes, the cobble streets and arcing castles fading away into the metal walls and dim lights of the ship.

 Virgil is looking at the two of them, faint amusement tracing itself across his lips. Janus is still languid in his chair, but his head is tilted ever so slightly towards them, clearly having been watching their performance. And Patton is grinning from the kitchen, six plates sitting on the counter.

 “That was actually… pretty good.” Virgil comments, surprise in his voice.

 “Of course it was! I may be rusty, but once an actor, always an actor! It’s like riding a bike!” Roman blurts out, striking a pose, the bravado of his characters giving him a bit of courage. He’s rewarded by Remus’s snort, gently bumping him with his shoulder.

 “More like drama nerd than actor.” Roman gasps, mock offense on his face.

 “You’re lucky I’m injured, Remus, or I would be challenging you to a duel right now!”

 “You’re lucky you’re my brother, otherwise I wouldn’t go easy on you and let you win.” Remus bites back, rolling his eyes.

 “um, am the only one caught up on the ‘bike’ thing? The hell is that?” Virgil mumbles.

 “It is a human form of transportation, consisting of a metal frame, which two wheels are attatched to. It is powered by the human peddling, and steered by handles attatched to the wheels, upon which pressure breaks are also mounted to allow for an easy stop to the kinetic motion.” Remus freezes at that voice, stiffening instantly, eyes turning cold and hard, and Roman knows instantly it must be Logan, as he peers over the top of the couch.

 “Oh, that’s neat!” Patton comments, oblivious to the tension in the room, or just ignoring it. “Suppers done, if you want some! I just made mac ‘n cheese.”

 “holy shit.” Roman whispers, eyes wide. “that’s… I can… can I have some?” He asks, hesitantly, immediately wincing at his question, waiting for the shoe to drop, waiting for the pain.

 “of course, Roman! I made plenty for everyone.”

 “I’ll go get you a plate, yeah? You wanna stay out here, or go back to our room?” Remus asks softly.

 “Out here. It’s… nice.” Roman answers, smiling smally as Remus ruffles his hair again, kissing the top of his head.

 Remus instantly hardens as he turns away from Roman, making a wide berth around the hallway entryway, where Logan is standing, unable to help glancing at him every few seconds.

 It wasn’t only that Logan had been the one to make the decision to keep them apart. He didn’t like that decision, but he did appreciate the obvious attempt at keeping Roman safe, the care for his injury. He’d been harsh in his words, in the moment, cruel in them, but he’d been hurt and not thinking clearly, and though it was the cruelest thing that had ever been done to him, it hadn’t been intentional.

 But there was something about him that reminded Remus much too much of The Scientist, as they called him, the way he stood, the formality of his speaking, the… the aura, he gave off. He doesn’t trust the way he moves, the way his gaze seems to see through him, the way he seems to analyze and take mental notes of every movement, every word, everything about him sets Remus’s instincts ablaze, screaming at him fight or flight, and it takes everything in him not to do either, just to steadily scoop some of the gooey, delicious smelling food onto two plates and walk back to Roman, settling stiffly onto the couch beside him, every muscle tense and breath hissing in and out.

 “I should… retire back to my chambers. Apologies, I didn’t know the two of you were out here.”

 “It’s fine-“

“You should go-“

 Remus exchanges a look with Roman, who’s frowning at him, head tilted slightly, as he always does when he’s serious.

 “You should stay.” Roman says firmly, voice brooking no argument, and Remus scowls, looking away, but not disagreeing.

 “I appreciate the sentiment, but I would rather avoid causing either of you distress. I had noticed several times in the past, that my presence caused a stress reaction in Remus, and I would not want to intrude. I… will continue doing my best to not be nusaince, to either of you.” Logan states, quickly grabbing a plate and leaving the room. Several moments later, they hear the click of his door shutting, and Roman huffs, glaring at Remus.

 “What? I didn’t say anything?!” He protests, and Roman’s eyes narrow.

 “You didn’t have to! You looked like you were gonna jump him at any second! He saved my life, Ree, you have to give him something for that.” Remus sighed and looked away, idly pushing the food around on his plate.

 “I know. I know I’m not being fair, Ro.” Roman softened, bumping Remus’s leg with his.

 “So what is it that’s really upsetting you?”

 “he scares me. The way he speaks, moves, talks, acts… it’s all… it’s Him. And I can’t not see Him, when I see Logan. I keep waiting for… for His voice, for Him to announce this experiment over, for Him to… to take you away again, and I know it’s not Him, and I know this is real, but how do I even know what real is anymore?” His voice cracks, and he realizes he’s crying again, and he shakes his head. “It’s all… it’s so fucked, Ro.”

 “I know. I… I’m sorry.” Remus frowns, looking at Roman, who’s pushing around the food on his plate, still too pale, and far too thin, and he nearly laughs.

 “you’re sorry? What the hell for? None of this is your fault! Definitely not the getting kidnapped and dragged to space thing, and certainly not the almost dying part, and definitely nothing in between!”

 “I should have been braver. They… they split us up, and I know you were so afraid, I was too, but they used that against you, and I should have stood up to them, like you always did, I should have fought, since you couldn’t anymore, I shouldn’t have let them keep taking you, I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have been relieved every time they took you instead of me! I hate it Ree, I hate that, that, I was such a coward! I was glad it was you and not me! How… how selfish is that?” Roman laughs, but it’s a pained, broken sound, and Remus instantly wraps his brother in a hug, slotting his head against Roman’s shoulder as he shakes.

 “it’s not. It’s not selfish, Roman, you don’t need to be ashamed of that, you were plenty brave, brobro, you were plenty strong. They never broke your smile, they never stole your laugh, and that defiance made them angrier than anything, Ro. You kept me going, every day, you’re the only reason I never just gave up, and I would never have let you fight them, Roman, no matter how badly you wanted to, I would never have let you take that chance. Don’t be guilty because you were happy not to get hurt, that’s just self preservation, Ro. I would never fault you for that. All of it is their fault. All of it.” He feels Roman shaking harder, can feel the tears dripping onto his shirt, and he just squeezes Roman tighter, wishing he could absorb all of Roman’s pain, wishing he could take it all, even if it would kill him, he would take it all.

 “I think I wanna go back to bed.” Roman mumbles, voice trembling, and Remus pulls back, nodding.

 “ok. Can you eat a bit, for me, first? You’re still healing, and we don’t want you getting sick on top of that.”

 “yeah.” Roman whispers, the life and spirit from the play reading nearly completely gone, and it breaks Patton’s heart a little more, seeing that glimpse of who Roman could be, should have been, would have been if their lives hadn’t been ripped out from under them. He exchanges a glance with Virgil, whom is frowning as well, likely feeling whatever sadness or hopelessness is radiating off the two humans. It must be strong, his eyes are darker than normal, his form flickering black at the edges. He can’t hear what they’re saying, but he knows Janus can, he has better hearing than the rest of them, and from the focused tilt of his head, subtly leaning towards them from his chair, he’s listening to every word.

 Eventually they pull apart from their hug, and Roman eats some of the food, his eyes widening, delight lighting up his face, some of the life sparking back to his eyes as he digs in, absolutely devouring the mac ‘n cheese. Remus rolls his eyes, eating his own a bit slower, though the taste of actual, real, true food still nearly sends him to tears.  

 “You want more?” Remus asks softly, but Roman shakes his head, already fighting to keep his eyes open. He’s warm and full and can almost believe he’s safe. He blinks open his eyes at Remus’s soft chuckle, brushing back his hair. “it’s alright, ro. You can go to sleep.” He murmurs, careful as he scoops Roman into his arms, who immediately lets his eyes drift closed, nestling his head against Remus’s chest.

[willow-salix]

Isolation update!

Day 74 of Isolation on Tracy Island

“What on earth are you two doing?” Gordon asked, popping up out of nowhere like a tropical jack-in-the-box, his shirt flapping in the breeze, making us both jump.

We were doing nothing more exciting than stretching out on the couch, where I had forced John to settle by laying on him and then demanded he read to me. And since that was actually a pretty normal occurrence, I was at a loss as to what he was referring to. Knowing him he'd just declared today to be "eat with your toes day" or something equally ridiculous and was annoyed we weren't playing along.

John stopped reading to glare at him. I lifted my head off his shoulder to join in with the glaring.

“We were trying to have a quiet moment without constant interruptions,” I told him. Why did he have to have so many brothers?

“I told you we should have gone up to Five for a few days,” John sighed, picking up the book again and continuing to read from where he had left off. I snuggled closer to listen.

“This supernatural soliciting

Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,

Why hath it given me earnest of success,

Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor.

If good, why do I yield to that suggestion

Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,

Against the use of nature? Present fears

Are less than-”

“That! That’s what I meant. What are you doing?” Gordon interrupted again.

“Trying to read Macbeth, obviously,” I grumbled.

“Why? It’s rubbish. No one reads that sort of thing any more.”

“Sure they do. Did you not read Shakespear in highschool?” I asked.

“Only when I had to, not for fun," he sneered that last word in the same tone people use when they have just trodden in something disgusting or realised there is no milk left in the house.

“You don’t know what you’re missing,” I told him.

“You two are so weird, there are billions of books out there and you are reading one so old that hardly anyone can even understand it any more.”

“We understand it, or we wouldn't be reading it,” John sighed. “It’s not our fault that it’s too intellectual for you.”

“I could understand it just fine if I wanted to!” Gordon protested. We snorted in disbelief. “Hey! I can be an intellectual too, I can be smart. Move over!”

He shoved our legs out of the way, forcing us to sit up and dropped down next to me on the couch.

“Do you have to be here?” John asked.

“Yes. I’m going to prove that I’m smart, keep reading.”

John sighed but continued where he had left off, obviously knowing that there is very little point arguing with him.

“Are less than horrible imaginings.

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical.

Shakes so my single state of man.

That function is smothered in-”

“Nope! I can’t do it! It’s just so boring!” Gordon wailed.

“Heathen!” I smacked him with a cushion.

“Out of my sight! Thou doth infect my eyes!” John flicked his forehead.

“What was that?” Gordon asked, beginning to laugh. “Did you just insult me in your weird Shakespear language?”

"Yes, because we invented old English," I sighed.

“Thou art a dull and muddy-mettled rascal.”

“Did you just call me stupid in old english?”

“Yep,” I grinned. “He did. It isn't boring, Shakespear is a total G.”

“Yeah, right, still sounds boring to me.”

“Macbeth is a masterpiece, it's about a Scottish dude and his mate who meet these three witches and they, out of the goodness of their hearts, give him a prophecy telling him that he’ll become king of Scotland but that his mate will father a whole line of Scottish kings but won't be king himself. Feeling like this is totally his destiny he isn’t prepared to wait it out and see what happens, he wants to be king now, so, with the urging of his wife, he kills the king and his mate. He is crowned but he becomes overwhelmed with guilt and paranoia. He goes back to the witches and they tell him that he must beware of some other dude named Macduff but that Macbeth is incapable of being harmed by any man born of a woman. So Maccy B, he gets a bit cocky and thinks it's all good for a while, even though Macbeth’s wife is going a little cray cray and taking the whole handwashing thing a wee bit too seriously. But then Macduff gets in on the action and brings an army with him, they storm the castle and Macduff tells old Bethy that he was born by cesarean-”

“Untimely ripped from his mother's womb,” John added.

“And Duffy beheads Macbeth and this other dude named Malcom that I forgot to mention, becomes king. See? It’s great!”

“Love, you just butchered Shakespear so badly that even I didn’t understand half of what you just said.”

“It’s my gift to the world,” I shrugged. “My ability to sum up a plot so badly that even I’m not sure if it makes sense. But I thought I did OK with that one.”

“Yeahhh, not so much,” Gordon teased. “I tuned you out three words in.”

“John, insult your brother for me, I am no longer talking to him.”

“Thou yeasty folly-fallen bladder.”

“How dare you, sir! I have no idea what that means but it sounds bad.”

“That’s kind of the point.”

“What’s the point?” Scott chose that moment to walk in, catching the tail end of the conversation.

“John is insulting me!”

“What did you do?”

“Insulted him.”

“I was asking Gordon.”

I cracked up laughing, Scott always has our backs.

“He said that Shakespeare was boring and then was mean to me after I took the time to explain the plot to him. Now I’m not talking to him.”

“Did you explain it the same way you explained The Witches of Eastwick to Virgil? Because I’d seen it and I didn’t understand that either.”

“My talents are wasted on you all,” I nudged John and quirked an eyebrow in Scott’s direction. He rolled his eyes but dutifully dragged out a premium insult.

“Sense sure you haven else could not have motion; but sure that sense is apoplex’d. ”

“Oh my god, you can still do that?” Scott laughed in amazement.

“Do what, insult people?” Gordon asked, clearly confused.

“John was in a Shakespearean insult team in highschool, they actually took part in competitions, he was obviously the champion, won them the league and a bust of Shakespeare’s head as a trophy.”

“Obviously,” I agreed, patting his hand proudly. “Dude got mad skills.”

Gordon's eyes flicked up to the bookshelf on the balcony above our heads where a small gold bust sat.

“You are so weird.”

“So you frequently tell me. Now, will you two kindly go away and leave us in peace?”

“Oh no, no way,” Scott laughed. “I want to hear more, in fact, I’m calling the others.”

And that’s the story of how John spent more than three hours blowing their minds and damaging their egos with a never ending volley of insults as they goaded him into more and more outlandish attacks. Here are some of the best.

Thou hath not so much brain as ear wax - to Gordon because he’s not intelligent enough to appreciate old english.

Thou qualling ill-nurtured lout - to Alan who kept chanting “me next, me next”.

Most shallow man! Thou worms-meat in respect of a good piece of flesh indeed- to Virgil because he was in the middle of trying to tame his hair when he was summoned.

Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-liver’d boy - to Scott because he was brave enough to attempt to insult him back.

Thou fawning spur-galled harpy!- at me when I stole his coffee

You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so- to all of them.

Your face is a book, where men may read strange matters- to me, because I’m a strange, strange lady and asked for another insult.

Thou fusty onion-eyed nut-hook! - at Virgil, no reason at all.

Draw thy tool. My naked weapon is out- after flipping a certain finger at Scott.

Thou wimpled bat-fowling puttock- at Gordon because it was his fault that John was stuck insulting people when he had just wanted a quiet afternoon.

Thou currish bade-court hedge-pig- at Alan while examining his chin growth.

What, you egg! Young fry of treachery! - at Alan when he sided with Gordon.

Assume a virtue if you have it not- at Gordon when he protested his innocence.

Thou artless tickle-brained haggard! - at Virgil when he compared John’s nose to Shakespeare’s massive hooter.

Thou villainous weather-brained barnacle!- at Gordon, just because, and now everyone is calling him a weather-brained barnacle.

Get thee to a nunnery- to me when I said his Shakespearean accent was strangely hot.

Thou puny rampallian baggage- at Gordon, for no reason other than he’s short.

Thou art some fool, I am loath to beat thee- at Scott when he attempted to start a Shakespearean rap battle (don’t ask, it didn’t last long)

Thine face is not worth sunburning- to Virgil who thinks he’s too cool for sunscreen and has a red nose because he fell asleep in the sun again.

You yourself, sir, shall grow old as I am if like a crab you could go backwards- at Jeff who wanted to know just what the heck was happening in his lounge and why we were all screaming with hysterical laughter.

I scorn you, scurvy companion. What, you poor, base, rascally, cheating, lack-linen mate! Away, you moldy rogue away!- at Alan when he tried to steal one of John’s cookies while he was distracted.

Away, you bottle-ale rascal, you filthy bung, away!- At Gordon when he also attempted cookie theft.

The insult lashes came to a halt when Grandma called us for dinner.

“Hey, John?” Gordon whispered as we bundled down the stairs to the kitchen

“Yeah?”

“I dare you to insult Grandma’s cooking.”

“No, my love, it’s not worth it, think of the children!” I gasped.

“What children?” he asked, genuinely perplexed.

I shrugged. “Our non-existent children, I just thought I'd go full movie heroine for dramatic effect. You do what you want, you’re all crazy.”

He narrowed his eyes as he thought about it, then nodded. I should have known, no Tracy can resist a dare.

Grandma plonked down plates of something that might have been chicken, but also might have been sausages in a gravy for gruel straight out of a Dickensean nightmare.

I watched John out of the corner of my eye. Would he actually do it? He took a deep breath, as if psyching himself up for it. I couldn't blame him. He pushed the plate away and opened his mouth.

“Away, you starvelling, you elf-skin, you dried neat’s-tongue, bull’s-pizzle, you stock-fish! Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.”

I think John’s grounded now, but the boys still haven't stopped laughing...

[aquitainequeen]

I posted 19,202 times in 2021

774 posts created (4%)

18428 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 23.8 posts.

I added 4,515 tags in 2021

#shadow and bone - 1062 posts

#ben barnes - 460 posts

#beauty - 446 posts

#cat - 400 posts

#on writing - 387 posts

#fashion - 376 posts

#art - 357 posts

#such beauty - 352 posts

#alina starkov - 346 posts

#inspiration - 329 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#in the english peasants’ revolt of 1381 apparently the mob marched while chanting ‘when adam delved and eve span/who was then the gentleman

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

The Truth, Terry Pratchett

517 notes • Posted 2021-08-29 20:51:54 GMT

#4

How did you approach the look and feel of the film? It has this gorgeous, almost painterly quality, and it looks almost like a piece of medieval art. Were there any particular things you looked at for visual inspiration?

Tons of things. We were never going to make a strictly medieval history film. There is no historical accuracy to the film whatsoever. It is completely a fantasy. But in terms of visual references, we looked at everything from Andrei Rublev, which is, I think, one of the greatest movies ever made, and which you could never make now. It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but that was a great visual touchstone for us. We looked at Willow, the Ron Howard film, which is one of my favorite fantasy films of all time. We looked at a lot of '80s fantasy, to be honest, like Ladyhawke and Dragonslayer and Willow. Those were big ones for us because they were fantasy. They weren't tied to a specific time and place in human history, and yet they still felt like a grounded reality.

We looked at Hammer horror films, and then there was this Russian adaptation of War and Peace that had just been restored around the time we started prep. Criterion put it out. It's seven hours, and again, it's a movie that would cost a billion dollars if they made it today, but because it was funded by the Russian government in the '60s, they were able to pull it off. We probably shouldn't have used that as a reference point because it just meant we were biting off far more than we could chew. [Laughs] And then Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, we looked at that one a lot. A lot of Shakespearean references, especially that one.

David Lowery on his quest to make the marvelous medieval epic The Green Knight

597 notes • Posted 2021-07-08 20:09:55 GMT

#3

Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.... The friction tends to arise when the two are not the same....There is no more hollow feeling than to stand with your honor shattered at your feet while soaring public reputation wraps you in rewards. That's soul destroying. The other way around is merely very, very irritating.

A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold

1059 notes • Posted 2021-01-27 22:12:39 GMT

#2

Leigh Bardugo: Yeah, Shadow and Bone is basically going to be really high quality fanfiction of the books.

Me: Oh, she's surely exaggerating.

Kaz Brekker: *has a faceoff with the Darkling/Kirigan, evades and escapes him via use of a flashbang*

Me: she was not exaggerating

1947 notes • Posted 2021-04-23 16:33:42 GMT

#1

Some favourite staging moments in productions of Shakespeare plays:

Clarence actually getting drowned in a barrel of wine on stage in Richard III; it was a small barrel, they stuck his head into it as he struggled, pulled him out for an instant as he gasped for air and screamed, his head was wet and sopping, his face all red

Macbeth clutching his empty hands to hold an imaginary child, casting a clawed shadow on the wall

Ophelia ripping out hanks of her hair to give to people during her ‘flowers’ scene (obviously fake hair in real life)

Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing hiding from Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro, taking a swig from a can of beer that happened to be full of cigarette butts and spit-taking it all over Don Pedro and Leonato

who then awkwardly pretend to check if it’s raining

Angelo in Measure for Measure taking off a bloody cilice belt from around his thigh while saying ‘Blood, thou art blood’ 

Also a really good bit where Angelo shows up in a two way mirror later on when the Duke’s speaking to himself and cursing him; the Duke turns to point at the mirror and there’s Angelo, in the chain of office, pointing back, accusing the Duke as much as the Duke does to him

The moment in Julius Caesar where Brutus asks his servant Strato - who’s been sitting with his back to the audience and wearing a hat with a wide brim - to help him commit suicide; Strato stands while taking off his hat to reveal that he’s played by Caesar’s actor

(a collective gasp went around the theatre; really lent a whole new meaning to ‘Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will’)

After a frantic chase scene in The Comedy of Errors which ends with all the cast collapsed across the stage in exhaustion and the scenery itself falling to bits...a pair of underpants falls from the ceiling, and Dromio of Ephesus (who’d tried in vain to retrieve them at the start of the play) crawls over several other characters, seizes them and screams in triumph 

2152 notes • Posted 2021-02-23 22:19:19 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[marlinspirkhall]

I mentioned my dream diaries a while ago so, while I’m resisting the urge to yell about Lin Manuel Miranda for little reason, does anyone want to hear The Hamilton Dream I had in 2019? OF course you do, here it is:

 THE SCOTTISH PLAY STRIKES AGAIN

-Dream Diary Entry 21/2/19

 I was sitting at a small venue's performance of Hamilton. I was secretly recording the whole thing from my pocket, and was worried that someone would find out. I was also worried that Lin Manuel Miranda would confront me, but I couldn't work out why yet. I had a horrible, sinking feeling that I had called him 'boring' on Twitter.

As I sat there, not fully engaged with the performance, Lin donned a pair of boxing gloves, and then tried to tear off his blue cape. He couldn't grasp it because of the gloves, but nevertheless, he challenged me to a duel.

 "You want me to box?" I asked, already standing up.

 "No," he said. He picked up a sword, then dropped it, because of the boxing gloves. He went to pick it up again, and it went skittering across the stage. I raised an eyebrow at him.

 "You should remove the gloves," I said.

 "THESE AREN'T GLOVES," he shrieked, and I glanced at his hands again. He had giant red lobster claws.

 "Please don't tell anyone. That's why it took me eight years to write Hamilton- I kept smashing the keyboard."

 I barely held back my laughter. "I can't promise anything. This is too juicy not to get out."

 He got angry, and snapped his claws in my face. SNAP! I was back in the auditorium.

I had front row seats, but the room was unusually empty; only about 15 people were there.

The stage was sunken, surrounded by Amphitheater seating- wide, stone steps. There was a slight chill in the room, but my fur coat kept me warm. The room was surrounded by giant braziers, but they were just for show and emitted very little heat. I tried to sit still, but the scratchy tici-tick-tickle of the dead animal around my neck made me want to claw my skin off.

This rendition of Hamilton was terrible. It was a "period-appropriate" retelling of the story, so everyone in the cast was white (and the audience; there were only about 12 people) and the costumes were made of real fur. We had found only one venue willing to accept the "avant-garde" performance, but the town that the theatre was located in had outlawed white rap in 2010, in an attempt to keep Eminem out of town. So, instead of rap battles, the characters simply unfurled comically long scrolls with the lyrics on, and started doing a really slow, off-beat poetry rendition. The orchestra accompaniment (and by orchestra, I mean One Man, Playing Electric Piano) continued to play at normal tempo underneath, so everyone kept skipping the end of their verses in order to start singing the chorus. The lyrics made no longer made any sense. One woman in the audience started sobbing before they were even halfway through.

I sunk a little lower in my chair. My face stung with shame. Thoughts came flooding back to me. This had all been my terrible idea. I clutched my pearl necklace anxiously.

 King George sang "you'll be back" two octaves too high & very off-key, and then tripped over his robes. As he was finding his footing, the midsection of the stage began to rotate, and the hem of his robe got caught in the mechanism. There was an awful, screeching sound as the hem began to get shredded, and King George stood there, horrified.

"MY MINK!", he yelped, as Eliza Hamilton came running onstage. She kicked him in the crotch and yelled "OOPS, MR SPHINX, I GUESS IT'S THE MINK JINX".

 A security guard gave her a warning glance, and she made sure to continue the rest of her rescue in a flat, careful monotone with no rhythm.

 "Oh no. George. You're on fire," she said, unhelpfully.

(The stage rotation mechanism had sparked, and set the hem of George's robes alight. He began running about the stage, spreading a trail of flames behind him. The other cast members began climbing the amphitheatre steps in panic.)

 "My my, this is an unexpected development," said a voice behind me.

I turned to look. A man sat diagonally across two seats. For a split second, I was worried it was LMM, finally come to slay me for revealing his true crustacean nature, but it was not.

 The man was dressed in all green, and held a ripe apple in his hand. I stared at him. A bow and arrow sat on the seat next to him.

 "... Robin [Hood]?" I asked. He gave me a wink, and put his feet up on the back of the chair in front. I wrinkled my nose.

 "You tell me," he said. He sounded like an Elvis impersonator. I squinted at him. He was wearing a dangerous amount of hairgel, and vaguely resembled John Travolta. A chunk of gel slid off his hair, and dripped onto his leather jacket. The green tights had been swapped for pink ones, and he had dark blue legwarmers and pastel blue ballet slippers.

 I gasped. "Cut down on that hair gel, Trav. You'll make the stage slippery."

 "I already have, my dear Horatio," Travolta smiled. On top of his leather jacket, a ruff materialised. For a moment, his gel-coated hair transformed into a bald patch. He gave me a knowing wink, and tossed the apple in the air. He caught it, and it instantly changed into a comically tiny stage prop; a skull.

 "Hmm, that's no good," he said, and tilted his head thoughtfully. "I shall have to get a new one." He gave me a contemplative look for a moment, and then shook his head.

 "Excuse me," he said, vaulting past me. I wasn't sure what he meant until he launched himself, screaming, at the flaming King George. Shakespeare/Travolta was immune to the flames, and ran through them with ease. He grabbed the hem of George's cloak.

 There was a tutting to my left. I turned to see Lin Manuel Miranda. He folded his arms, and his lobster claws glowed orange in the flame light.

 "Sweetie, that's what happens when you pitch a show in Vancouver," he said.

 "Why? Did it happen to you?" I asked, as Shakesvolta transformed into the grim reaper (He made a quiet pun to himself as he sharpened the top of his scythe: "A-scythe from this, I only shake spears").

 "No, but I did say 'Macbeth' on the opening night of the Moana prequel," Miranda sighed. King George yelped, and started running in circles.

 "But there isn't a Moana prequel," I frowned.

 A dark shadow passed before his eyes. "Exactly."

 "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, I knew I should have stayed in business school!" George sobbed, as he tore off the smoldering remains of his cape. The fire had already spread to his wig. The grim reaper calmly contemplated his scythe, and gave me a grin. Admittedly, he always looked like he was grinning, because of the skull, but I like to think it was a friendly gesture.

 "Heed not the rabble..." A confused Samuel Seaberry began singing. There was nothing but flames and screams to accompany him, for the piano player had taken refuge behind his seat, holding up the keyboard as a shield.

  "Look away, darling; this is the messy part," the grim reaper shrugged, and charged at Samuel Seaberry.

Squelch.

Suddenly, all the sounds ceased. I woke up.

[eddisfargo]

CoMC Chapter 45

CHAPTER 45

The Rain of Blood (homophones exist but I’m pretty sure that one’s correct)

39 minutes

WOW, didn’t see that one coming. I actually gasped while brushing my teeth. Lady Macbeth, after browbeating her husband into murder, got dead herself. I mean, they did make a big deal out of the fact that the jeweler had two guns to defend himself, but somehow I did not predict that. Getting a bit ahead of myself, but it’s all in this chapter, so: La Carconte dead, Cadereusse shipped off to the galleys, all because they couldn’t be satisfied with free $45,000 from a guy that wifey dearest says her husband totally forgot about anyway. Wonder if our dear Count saw this coming--that his diamond would be their absolute ruin because they so greedy. I doubt he thought any better of him anyway. 

And who gets the blame? Why, poor, blood-covered Bertuccio, who just wanted to help the jeweler--who wasn’t quite dead yet. Poor sap actually has a moment where he goes “Why are you arresting me? I just told you I’m innocent!!” but circumstantial evidence is overwhelming, so off he goes. Guess no good deed goes unpunished, and speaking of which…

Poor Asunta!! Bertuccio’s sister, burned alive by her adopted son’s friends for a little cash, and left to die overnight as they robbed her. Jesus that’s awful. Edmond’s hot take is that it’s karmic punishment for… not returning the baby to its mother after Bertuccio saved it? Weird, I kind of assumed she was in on the whole “let’s suffocate the baby” thing. Like, unwanted, out-of-wedlock baby, what are we going to do? Abortion wasn’t an easy option in the 1800s so let’s just straight up kill the baby. But I guess that is not their assumption? Maybe the suffocation was accidental or, more likely, maybe Villefort did it without mom’s consent. Unless of course I’m confused and the woman is Renee, but I was pretty sure Renee was dead at this point unless I got the timelines mixed up, and also the context of her walking in from outside and embracing him didn’t seem like “hey its me ur wife.” Not to mention that she’d have been pretty easy to find if so. 

Anyway, Bertuccio agrees he should’ve looked for the mother but he might’ve gotten in trouble due to the murder (of the wrong guy clearly) so he didn’t, and apparently Villeforts are just awful in general and he hopes he never sees Benedetto again. (We are 100% going to see Benedetto again, but if he’s lucky maybe Bertuccio won’t). 

OK, now here’s a point on which I am confused. This abbe, this Buzony or something, to whom Berty made his confession. Seems to be the same guy who gave the Macbeths the diamond. Which… I was pretty sure was Edmond. Who seems to be hearing this story for the first time. Actually really seems, not just the usual “seems.” But Bert told the abbe everything. Also, I feel like Bert would recognize the Count and the abbe as the same person within that much smaller time period. So… I’m misunderstanding something. Here’s the possibilities, as I see them.

Edmond is not the diamond-abbe, he just sent him (I really seem to recall him reacting as if he was hearing about his own father though, so I don’t like this one)

The diamond-abbe and the confession-abbe are two abbes using the same name because he’s in league with Edmond

The two abbes were not using the same name and I am wrong about that because I’m bad with names, as we have amply seen

Edmond is even more of a master of disguise than I realized and can fool the same person looking closely at his face twice within a year, and also this story is 100% not new to him and all of his intense curiosity is feigned (I do not think it is this one?)

Bertuccio is faceblind like me and Edmond has a terrible memory and forgot this whole story (sounds legit it’s probably this)

If you know the answer and it’s not some Big Reveal later, feel free to tell me, haha.  Although you’re probably reading this like two weeks after I am writing it, and that’s just if you see it when it’s posted. Today’s July 3rd, 2020, I’m queuing it up on the 7th to be posted on the 13th. And who knows? Maybe someone’s reading this in the future? Still, feel free to comment whenever you’re reading it! Just in general--it’s pretty fun. No spoilers plz, but I feel like this particular thing is something I’ve just misunderstood, so it’s fair game.