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theamazingdrunk-blog · 7 years ago

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Reposting DarkAngel's spec without permission

Little Know Facts about Louis and Lestat © Dark Angel

Status: Complete Characters: Lestat & Louis Disclaimer: This piece of speculative fiction is not meant to infringe upon, sidle up to, nor slip in on top of the rights of the author of the Vampire Chronicles, Knopf Publishing or it’s subsidiaries, Kith and Kin, Geffen Pictures, Warner Home Video, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, The Estate of Pointe du Lac, L’etat d’Auvergne, The Talamasca, Pointedulac Renovation and Construction, The Lion Court - Bar and Strip Club, Dulac Real Estate - New Orleans, LA, Melmoth Prophylactics Company, L&L Gazebo and Porch Swing Manufacturing, Amadeo World Enterprises, Molloy Bourbon Distillery, any other SPEC Authors, any SPEC readers, their pets, close relatives or chiropractors. Thank you. Author’s Notes: I began writing this in 1996 when I first discovered the a.b.a.r Archive. I want you all to know that if any of the statements below directly or indirectly oppose or contradict anything that has been written in your or any other SPEC, this is unintentional, and I am sorry. Conversely if anything contained below has already been stated in your or any other SPEC, this is also unintentional and again I am sorry. It is just for fun. One vampire’s view. Please enjoy. Dedication: With generous suggestions from Father of Lies to whom it is dedicated.

I am a vampire, one who is known to you from the writings of the aforementioned. I do not wish to identify myself further than this, as I am not possessed of the need for fame. I have read the “Anne Rice” books as well as the literature which has been appearing in alt.books.anne.rice. These are very interesting. Some are so close to reality that I feel convinced that I am not the first one of our little family to submit writings here. The portrayal of Louis and Lestat, in the books and in these specs, compels me to reveal a few of these facts (personal traits, mortal experiences, abilities, likes and dislikes) which may give everyone a clearer image of them. Even in their own writings, they fail to describe themselves or each other the way that I see them to actually be.

I do know them personally. I have lived with them. I am extremely fond of them both, this is why I feel the need to dispel the notions of a weak, whining Louis and a violent, self-centered Lestat. These are stereotypes which emphasize the very worst (notice I don’t actually say non-existent) qualities of these two very charming and well-rounded gentlemen quite out of proportion.

Lestat de Lioncourt *******************

-loves puns. The worse the better.

-plays radio and CDs extremely loud. Has been made aware that this is quite annoying to every one else, but seems to revel in causing others to yell at him.

-often breaks into to song with little or no provocation, usually accompanied by dancing. Has actually danced on tables.

-being the last surviving member of his family, is technically the Marquis. He sometimes mentions this , as in “is this any way to treat le Marquis d’Auvergne?”

-is very sweet, often presents a member of the family with a single flower, for no reason at all.

-is terrible at video games and has very little patience for them, though he loves new technology and is very knowledgeable about computers. He can take them apart and put them together, though if he is asked to fix one, he is more likely to appear with a brand new one instead.

-writes poetry incessantly, some of it is very good, and a few are truly beautiful, but with the volume he produces, invariably most are going to be quite bad. This is also true for lyrics and music which any passerby is unfortunately subjected to.

-whenever he sees Tom Cruise, in magazines, videos or on television , has taken to exclaiming “There I am!” This started with the film and has now progressed, everyone has now picked it up, “There you are, Lestat!”

-still occasionally buys dolls, I am not sure what he does with them.

-will do nearly anything, including acrobatics, to make someone laugh. (this is usually practiced upon Louis)

-loves riddles.

-seems to know an infinite number of songs which he plays on the piano, he is a virtuoso. Plays more ragtime than classical, however.

-is a very tactile person. Hugs everyone as often as possible.

-takes an intense dislike to certain media (personalities, programs, movies, bands, songs, etc.) and will go on long tirades about these people or whatever it is, each and every time they appear, to the point where many of us offer to just go and kill them if this will in some way placate him.

-is still enamored with the Shakespearean play, “Macbeth”, to the point of obsession. He has seen it countless times and purchases copies of it in print, on video and even on CD ROM. It is due to this obsession that the rest of us have been treated to : “Macbeth-the one man show”, “MACBETH!-the musical”, and even “Lady Macbeth-an all-drag revue” (the specifics of which I do not care to go into, and how he convinced the others to participate, I’ll never know )All have been delightful!

-is still deep in mourning over the seeming demise of the heavy metal music scene. You would think it was a close relative. Now he has closets full of black leather clothing which he claims he can’t wear anywhere.

-is terrible at spelling, but loves to work crosswords and cryptograms.

-would do anything, at any time, to help a member of the family.

-pouts often, over trivial things mostly, but this is usually short-lived.

-has sent the entire coven personalized autographed copies of all of his books, with his dialogue printed in red, of course.

-loves fresh flowers and has new bouquets delivered every night.

-has an intense dislike of insects.

-is much more generous and adorable than he has been described. Is constantly buying things for someone, or giving things away.

-is actually very paternal. He likes to take care of people and animals, and can be very gentle and comforting. Often teases his fledglings by referring to them as a father would “this is my youngest, David”, or “Well, Louis is a middle child, so we must expect these things”, “tell Papa what’s wrong”, or even “Bedtime for you, young man” and “Go to your Room!”

-loves books, has stacks of them everywhere, including at other vampire’s lairs.

-his nicknames among us are “Trouble” and “Brat” (shortened from “Brat Prince” of which you are all aware). Once, at Night Island , several of us were sitting quietly together (reading, playing games etc.) when Lestat appeared suddenly in the middle of the room, striking a rather affected pose. “Who am I?” he demanded, trying to start a game of charades. Louis looked up from his book and said quietly, “The Nyades Road ghost?” Lestat has been The Nyades Road ghost ever since, as in, “Telephone call for the Nyades Road ghost”, “Who do these boots belong to? ” “The Nyades Road ghost” “Of course I didn’t do that, what do I look like, the Nyades Road ghost?” Daniel has taken to calling him NRG (energy).

-loves to play hide and seek in its many different variations.

-loves pseudonyms and uses them as often as possible. Often they are names of established characters, such as Clarence Oddbody. Has also used: Timothy Cratchit, Samuel Spade, Nick Charles, Dorian Gray and Rick Blaine. He also uses other people’s pseudonym’s, such as Oscar Wilde’s Sebastien Melmoth, has also used: Richard Bachman (Stephen King), Alan Smithee (any director who does not want to be associated with a film he or she made), Max Schreck (Name given for actor who portrayed Nosferatu, but strangely no records of a Max Schreck can be found), Apollo C. Vermouth (Paul McCartney) Dr. Winston O’Boogie (John Lennon) and even Pandora Spocks (Elizabeth Montgomery as Serena). Also likes Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Mark Twain, David Banner, Peter Parker, Thomas Mapother and Howard O’Brien. When making reservations or holding tickets for himself and Louis, loves to put them under some variation of Louis’ name, ie. Louis Lioncourt, Louis Armstrong, Lancelot DuLac, Joe Louis, Ludwig Loch, Luigi Punta Lago, Pointdexter Lewis or of course, Brad Pitt. And then makes Louis pick them up.

- is a dog person, as you have probably guessed. Talks more to Mojo than anyone else. Bathes and brushes him often. Takes those disgustingly cute pictures of him - Mojo on the couch, Mojo at the table, Mojo reading a book, Mojo in front of the Christmas Tree, Mojo at the computer, Mojo calling his broker, Mojo fixing the VCR, Mojo kicking back having a beer.

-is not particularly fond of cats, even as a meal.

- when they are living together, almost constantly messes with Louis’ hair, to the point where Louis threatens to smack him, and I believe actually has on occasion. Frets over it more than his own, even. HATES it short. Would only cut his own hair if it were somehow unavoidable.

- loves shopping, for himself or others.

- calls Louis “Precious Darling” if he thinks no one can hear him. It always makes Louis smile a little embarrassed smile. Louis almost certainly has little private names for Lestat, but he is far more discreet about them. I suspect, on the basis of some very circumstantial evidence, that one of them may be “Tomcat”.

-would secretly love to have the entire existing coven living all together

Louis de Pointe du Lac **********************

-has a beautiful voice. Sang in the choir of his parish cathedral as a child. Still sings softly to himself. Will sing with Lestat if cajoled long enough.

-loves the smell of grapes. It reminds him of his youth, there was a grape arbor at Pointe du Lac.

-often becomes enamored of certain television shows and will not miss them. Uses the VCR more than anyone else in the family, to the extent that he has worn out several machines. Has closets filled with shelf after shelf of tapes.

-often asks Lestat to play the piano for him.

-though they do argue and fight, even physically, Louis does have the best rapport with Lestat, and is often asked by others in the coven to “ask Lestat something for me, won’t you?”. Which Louis always does.

-plays practical jokes, like sending Armand a series of tapes entitled, “How To Speak With A Spanish Accent”, or sending boxes of cheap plastic fangs to any one of us. Since the film has come out, he always makes certain that a crimping iron is prominently displayed in their bathroom whenever they have guests. He has even had it engraved with Lestat’s initials.

-is a very good story teller.

-has a subtle , yet very lively , sense of humor. His standard greetings to Daniel include, “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to talk to you” and “I never give interviews, monsieur”. He had a fake book jacket with the title Daniel Molloy-Boy Reporter by Anne Rice made up, put it around a copy of their book (IWTV) and sent it to Night Island.

-is the “family” photographer.

-has an iron will, matched with a vicious temper. Though he is very slow to anger, and does tend more toward depression, when he is finally provoked, he is intimidating to us all, strength, age, and powers notwithstanding. All of us who have witnessed, or even heard about one of Louis’ rages (which have been few, four in over two hundred years) do all we can to avoid him during one of them. I can say with confidence that we would all fear to be the focus of one. You have certainly read about one, recorded in IWTV, in which he burns down the Theatre des Vampires. Another occurred during the time that we were all together, while Lestat was with Akasha. It was so upsetting to everyone that even Lestat, with his well known penchant for publishing even the most disturbing things about all of us, declined to include it in his book.

-keeps a record of everyone’s “birthdays”(some significant date in their lives if they don’t know their actual birthdate) and sends gifts.

-is an excellent speller and mathematician. He was trained early to keep the books and the plantation journal at Pointe du Lac. He has proof-read all of Lestat’s books, is the only one Lestat trusts to read his proofs without taking anything out, or changing anything. Has often been asked to check up on various mortal accountants retained by one or the other of us, to be certain that our investments are being handled wisely and honestly.

-usually pays little attention to his surroundings, allowing Lestat to decorate as he pleases when they are together, and doing nothing when he is alone, but enjoys the traditional holidays very much and loves to drape the entire house in greenery and ribbons and fruit for Christmas, as was done when he was a child at Pointe du Lac. Lestat loves to counteract this by buying the brightest, cheapest tackiest decorations ( huge plastic lighted Santa with reindeer for the roof, brightly colored elves everywhere, Fake-snow-in-a-can on the windows, lights that play Christmas carols and blink in time to the music, welcome mat that says “Ho Ho Ho” when stepped on, silver icicles strewn everywhere, mistletoe in every doorway, all kinds of automatons, such as are usually seen in store windows - Santas, Little Drummer Boys, Elves working, Christmas trees that fall over, ect. Shiny red and green garlands everywhere, and even one of those cardboard fireplaces, next to the real one) and putting them up before Louis wakes, or while Louis is out.

-loves candlelight. He often turns off the lights in his room and lights several candles instead. He has been lectured about the danger of this, but he persists in secret. When he is discovered he will blow them out and use electric light for a few nights. He has had his candles confiscated after setting off the smoke alarm.

-knows how to drive and usually has a car, but prefers motorcycles and nearly always has one. Says it is closer to horseback riding.

-when annoyed or irritated with Lestat will call him “Lestat Christophe Marie!”. No one knows if this was Lestat’s actual name. When asked, Gabrielle claims she doesn’t remember, Lestat claims that it was not, Louis made it up. Louis will say only, “It is Lestat’s name.”

-often disappears without warning. For instance, once, in 1990 when he was living with Lestat, he was sitting on the floor, watching a video in the living room, Lestat was in a chair behind him. Louis got up, turned to Lestat and said, “I’ll be back.” Went into the kitchen, apparently out the window and was gone for three weeks. Lestat has threatened to put his face on a milk carton.

-according to Talamasca files, the name on Louis’ baptismal certificate was “Louis Michel Rene Antoine”.

-loves to gamble. He generally stays away from casinos, but has cleaned every one of us out during card games. Always has a bet going somewhere. His nicknames among us are “Lucky” and “Ace” (we can’t all call him “Beautiful One”). Loves to play Pool or Billiards. Has been known to hustle other players.

-is still somewhat claustrophobic and suffers from vivid nightmares often.

-loves film and video. Avoids quoting them very much, but can identify nearly any quote that is put to him.

-adores video games, although he owns none himself. Becomes immersed in them for hours and loses all track of time. Has had to be literally dragged to safety at dawn.

-is the most avid and interested listener of all the vampires. Will sit for hours and listen to Maharet, Khayman or any of the others describe their lives as mortals or vampires. Has asked Daniel to tell him of all of the other stories he had collected before they met. Loves to listen to David’s adventures.

-has very refined manners. Still stands when a lady enters a room, opens doors, pulls out chairs, sends thank you notes, etc.

-is a very graceful dancer. Had lessons as a child.

-periodically puts great sums of money in church poor boxes.

-often uses the French pronunciation of our names, such as, Davide, Erique, Danielle.

-can discuss philosophy and religion at length.

-draws and paints but doesn’t want anyone else to ever see his work. He often burns it once it is completed. Lestat has stolen some of the sketches while Louis was out hunting, and he says they are quite good.

-loves jigsaw puzzles and board games, especially chess.

-was a cat person in his mortal life, and was always making pets of the cats at Pointe du Lac. Now however, he avoids pets mostly, but since he has had Mojo foisted upon him, takes very good care of him, and I believe, loves him very much. Mojo has formed a very close attachment to Louis, taking any opportunity to lay on his lap. If Lestat is gone, Mojo will follow Louis and never leave his side. Is somewhat opposed to all the picture taking, but only as much as to say, “Lestat, leave poor Mojo alone.” Speaks to Mojo in French, claims that Mojo is bilingual.

-hates to shop for himself, but will shop for nights and nights to find just the right gift for Lestat.

-has no particular attachment to his hair, if not with Lestat, will cut it very short as soon as he wakes, but does not burn it, because he believes the odor would attract attention. As a result, has garbage bags full of hair that he regularly disposes of. Lestat likes to take them and give them to wig-makers and doll makers. This distresses Louis, but he cannot quite explain why.

-knows much more about Voodoo than you would ever believe. Not that he practices it …as far as I know.

-still uses his real name as much as possible, though Lestat advises against it. As forms and registrations have evolved, has changed it to Louis DePointeDuLac, then Louis Depointdulac, now it is usually Louis Pointedulac, or if the name space is especially short, Louis Dulac. When Lestat does prevail in forcing him to use a pseudonym, always uses something as far from his own name as possible, which results in Louis’ mail and phone messages coming for : Giovanni Martelli, Ciaran O’Shea, Bobby Lee James, Alexei Andropov, Angel Martinez, Dmitri Stadopolous, Biff Weatherington, Ping Chang Lee, Casimir Pulaski, DaShawn Lincoln, Ingmar Thorvaldson, Kefentse Unika, Israel Goldberg or Trinity Lovechild Smith. Lestat gets great joy out of this, and if he happens to retrieve the mail, or take a phone call, will often call Louis by whatever pseudonym it came under, for the rest of the night.

-has never, ever gone underground. There are other unsaid explanations for his disappearances.

FINIS

THE END

#not my fic #fandom #for discord

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furederiko · 7 years ago

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Meet the Rider of Science, and his power of... Exposition!!! Yeah, it's a full review for Kamen Rider Build episode 1...

NOTE: After long consideration, I've decided to upgrade my First Impression into a full review. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll be doing the same for the following episodes. That part is... still undecided for now. If anything, I might end up doing a batch review for several episodes in each new post. Probably once a month, or at least a bi-weekly (2 episodes) release. Assuming I continue watching, of course! Also, don't expect this to be as thorough/detailed as my recap-view for "Kamen Rider Ghost". To be honest, that ended up being a bit taxing to produce... LOL. For this one in particular, I've already offered some points before, so I'm just going to expand on those. Let's start!

- Like I've pointed out before, the Pandora's Box mystery is intriguing. Sure, it's basically another plot-generating macguffin, but what is it really? Of course, after a few days, I've realized one thing: TOEI seems to have a thing with cubes lately! Remember "Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger"? And also that recent 'odd' anime series, "Sekaisuru KADO". I'm so glad "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" has the... balls to be different. LOL. - The interesting part about this item though, is that it gave clear confirmation to the series' time setting. Much like Kyuranger, this show is being set in the future, albeit not as distant as that current Super Hero Time counterpart (after all, Kyuranger takes place more than 300 years after humanity's first space exploration). This first episode began around 10 years after the elusive Box was discovered. And that occured during humanity's first landing on Mars! - As for the "Romance of Three Kingdom" angle I said before? That's due to what the Box created: the "Skywall Disaster". When the macguffin was triggered during the Martian Exploration's homecoming ceremony, it unleashed a mysterious impenetrable Skywall that divided Japan into... yes, THREE areas. Namely, Hokuto (blue, the social welfare), Seito red, the economic recovery), and Touto (green, the traditional pacifist). The last is where this series is set (for now, at least). We have three confirmed Kamen Riders as well, so I'm guessing they will represent the Rulers/Leaders for each area. Not unlike Liu Bei, Cao Cao, and Sun Quan, right? - Oh, one more thing... that mysterious worker who conveniently activated the Box and instigated the tragedy? I could be wrong, but I think it's quite obvious enough that he's none other than our protagonist. His amnesiac state and strange obsession curiosity to the Box that was shown afterwards, strongly supported this theory. - Protagonist Sentou Kiryuu (played by yet another JUNON Super Boy winner Atsuhiro Inukai) is still grating on my nerves. Yes, I HAVE warmed up to him after 3rd viewing (kind of... sort of...), but I'm still having trouble liking this guy. He's what you get if the duo of "Kamen Rider W" had a child together: the cocky side of Shoutarou Hidari, and the naive curiosity of Philip/Raito Sonozaki. Calling himself genius and self-praising his own invention? Yikes! That's Shoutarou's bad-side all right. Also... Spada Spada Spada!!! Sentou's body language reminds me of Kyuranger's Spada. But he's far from being as likeable. For now, that is. - Inspite of that, I do like the questions surrounding his 'forgotten past'. That creepy human-experimentation nightmare? Yeah, it's a strong nod to Shouwa Riders, with "Kamen Rider Black" being a great example. It doesn't take a genius to guess, that it's how he ended up becoming Kamen Rider Build. Introduced via the nightmares, was 'Bat-Man'.... I mean the bat-themed Faust leader Night Rogue. It seems this mysterious figure is pulling the strings behind these experimentations. - Speaking of experiments... Ryuuga Banjou (played by Eiji Akaso) is the recent in its long line of victim. This stupid 23 years old is easily my second favorite character so far. His actor have proven his ability to showcase emotions in "Kamen Rider Amazons S2" (I hated his character at first, but he evolved into a compelling audience-surrogate later on). So he's another strong talent for the protagonist side. He also shared that Shouwa Rider-esque backstory, which comfortably placed him on route to become the 2nd Rider, Kamen Rider Claws. But if, and only if, this show is indeed going through the Sangokuden path, will he end up becoming Sun Quan to Sentou's Liu Bei? Hmmmm.... that would be a heartbreaking twist, considering how heavily he's being shipped with Sentou right now. Then again, don't forget Shadowmoon... - If Ryuuga's second, who's my favorite character then? The answer is of course... Gentoku Himuro (played by Kensei Mikai). Contrary to my First Impression, he's not that ambiguous. He's a sleek-haired corporate-level douchebag, as evidenced by his sleazy move towards the lady journalist. He might look cool and tough, but at several occasions, he's acting like a spoiled brat! That's probably why I liked him even more! LOL. I admit, he's currently present to deliver exposition dump regarding the Pandora's Box. But he also had his own mystery, which means future potentials. Gentoku's one of the three bigwigs who experienced the Skywall disaster first hand. Yet in contrast to his words, he looked okay, and seemingly hasn't aged in 10 years. What's the deal with him then? What about those other two, the lady in white and middle-aged man? Are they the leaders of the two other areas now? Why is the buttons on his gray uniform is on the left, and not right side? If I do end up following this series, getting answers to those will probably be one of the few reasons. - There's more. These past few days, many have been connecting Gentoku with the supposed-antagonist Night Rogue. A nice theory, but a little too obvious one if you ask me. Unless of course, TOEI is going the exact same route to "Kamen Rider Ex-Aid". Which makes sense, since Gentoku shares MANY similarities to Kuroto Dan! Both are played by crowd-pleasing really-good-looking (I can't really argue that, can I... ;D) 30-something actors, both are corporate businessmen who somehow got involved with the protagonist, and they exuded a strong "I'm a villain" vibe from the very start of the show. Two of a kind! But that's also the reason why it's too obvious. I doubt TOEI is going to rehash the same twist so soon. - Personally, I'm currently suspecting his assistant Nariaki Utsumi (played by Yuki Ochi) to be the real face behind Night Rogue. Going back to my Sangokuden theory, there's a likelihood that Gentoku will serve as the show's Cao Cao. But remember, it wasn't Cao Cao who ended up becoming the bigger challenge to Liu Bei. It was Sima Yi, who was his right hand and also personal advisor. I hope you're getting my point here... - Misora Isurugi (played by Kaho Takada) is obviously the official sidekick for Sentou. I sincerely hope we'll see a development in her character soon, because for now, her listless attitude... is sucking the joy out of this series. Think of it, like grumpy Koyomi in "Kamen Rider Wizard". She made me abandoned that series! For some reason, Misora has the power to cleanse evil. That means she might end up becoming a key character later on. That's a story for another day though. She's just part of Sentou's glaring exposition dump now. - Freelance journalist Sawa Takigawa (played by Yukari Taki and Cafe Nascita owner Souichi Isurugi (played by Yasuyuki Maekawa) are also exposition tools! Their main contribution to the episode was to deliver explanations, such as: the unidentified life forms Smash, how Build could extract their Essence to turn them back into human, how Misora could purify the Essence to be used by Build later on, why Sentou ended up living in Nascita's hidden basement/bunker, Build's goals in this series, as well as about Ryuuga's criminal background. Sawa served as the first damsel-in-distress, while Souichi as... Spada, Spada, Spada (that use of Italian? duh...)... a comic relief support. He was NOT funny though. AT ALL. Generally annoying for my taste. - Aaah yes, the flat dry jokes just did NOT work. It's said that third time's the charm, but definitely not for this one. None of the humor made me laugh, not even once. Aside from being weak in materials and relies too much on slapstick, the comedic timing was also off. The optimist in me would say, "Better luck next episode", but the pessimist half is saying, "Cut the crap, and just focus on being serious!!!". - If there's one thing I easily enjoyed about this episode, it's the design and concept. I could be biased due to my love to "Kamen Rider W", but Build certainly emitted Double's flair of style. Likely due to Ryuta Tasaki being the director. The dual-elements is a such a neat concept, combining biological and technological, though it seems these will not be limited to those categories (we'll be getting elementals like Diamonds, Fire, and more). Yes, the whole Full Bottles gimmick is basically an excuse to promote toy collectibles/figures. But at least it allows a variety of combinations, or as the Build Driver say... "BEST MATCH". The fact that it's created using purified Smash's essence (Hedgehog is the example) is equally intriguing. That means every Smash serves a purpose to become a new power-base! What will happen if Build accidentally uses an evil one, then? Will he turn evil too? Hmmm... - Build's transformation scene feels very SCIENCEy with all those physics equations. All those metallurgy angle... I really dig that! Sadly, the finishing move "VOLTECH FINISH" is a complete opposite. It's meant to look cool, but for me it's cheesy because the use of Physics felt unnatural/forced. Really, I don't think it's possible for anyone to move that way. To sum up, the Science approach in this episode was a hit or miss for me. - Last but not least, the nicely choreographed action, helped elevate the episode's second half into something that was genuinely entertaining. The motorcycle chase against the Touto armed forces in particular, was a highlight. It's over the top, but exciting. Like many had said, it felt like a Kamen Rider show once again.

As far as first episode go, this was... okay to good. Not great, due to many reasons I've pointed out above. Unlike Kyuranger that instantly stole my attention and sped off with it, this one didn't accomplish as much. It's clearly handholding its audience with thorough explanations here and there, so the bulk of it was merely expositions. Just to be fair, it can't really be helped nor blamed, considering this IS only the first episode. I do however, hope things will 'build up' with more... 'natural' flow in the next one. That's probably when I can properly decide whether to pick this series up or not. So yeah, allow me to reiterate: this post does NOT mean I'll be following the series from now on. There are some nitpick-ish parts I still need to... 'shake off' first, but I do have some good enough reasons to give it a chance, at least until around the 5th-6th episode. Here's hoping the next ones will be able to convince me even more... Next Episode: Is Ryuuga a real killer? Time for a murder investigation...

Episode 01 Score: 7,3 out of 10

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Kamen Rider Build" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

#tokusatsu #kamen rider #kamen rider build #review #Just for Fun

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shakespearesglobeblog · 8 years ago

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From Shakespeare, Music and Performance

Music has been an essential constituent of Shakespeare's plays from the sixteenth century to the present day, yet its significance has often been overlooked or underplayed in the history of Shakespearean performance. Providing a long chronological sweep, a new collection of essays – Shakespeare, Music and Performance (ed. Bill Barclay and David Lindley) – traces the different uses of music in the theatre and in film from the days of the first Globe and Blackfriars to contemporary, global productions.

What can you expect from the book? Have a read of some snippets here.

From David Lindley and Bill Barclay’s Introduction:

Music has played a vital part in theatrical entertainment since the very beginnings of drama. The theatre of Shakespeare’s own time was no exception, and music has continued to make a highly significant contribution to the performance of his plays up to the present day. Exactly what sort of contribution, however, has been dictated by a variety of factors: by the number and range of musicians available; by the changing architecture of theatres themselves; by the historical evolution of musical styles; by the changing expectations of audiences; and latterly through the influences of film and television, and of sophisticated technology. It is the aim of this collection of essays to explore the nature and implication of these developments from the time of the plays’ composition through to contemporary performance both on film and in the theatre.

From William Lyons’ Theatre Bands and Their Music in Shakespeare’s London:

Introduction

With the rise in popularity of public and private theatres in Early Modern London, the opportunity arose for professional musicians to find employment in many of the bespoke playhouses that sprung up on both sides of the Thames. This essay considers the various styles and sound worlds incorporated into plays, and in particular who actually played the music. When musicians could be afforded, it was important to engage the very best available and in early seventeenth-century London the principal professional band outside of the royal court was the civic ‘waits’, a type of band whose skill and versatility were well attested. Whilst it is clear that waits were far from being the only musicians to be employed in theatres, I will suggest that it was the waits who contributed more significantly to the high standards of playing remarked upon by visitors to London’s theatres than hitherto recognised.

Waits were employed principally to provide music for civic ceremony and procession, particularly attending the Lord Mayor on such occasions. In a sense, the waits provided a ‘civic soundtrack that distinguished town from country’. This aural emblem of the city came with considerable perks; the official status achieved by being accepted into the waits (usually after a lengthy apprenticeship, period of probation and then interview) meant that the musician could wear the civic livery, which signified an official and elevated social status. They were also allowed to accept non-civic employment. As highly skilled and usually multi-instrumental professionals, the waits were able to provide a variety of sonorities and volume depending on what was required of them.

Theatre Bands and Their Music

In his dedication to The First Booke of Consort Lessons Thomas Morley refers to the ‘ancient custome’ of maintaining a waits band ‘to adorne your honors favors, Feasts and Solemne meetings’ and ‘your Lordships Wayts’, these ‘excellent and expert Musitians’ with their ‘carefull and skilfull handling’ are recommended the publication as much as is their employer, the Lord Mayor of London. Morley goes on to suggest that the waits can improve upon the arrangements ‘by their melodious additions’ and hints of a second volume of pieces ‘to give them more testimonie of my love towards them.’ Here is a publication that is unique, firstly for its precise specification of instruments – the ‘Treble Lute, the Pandora, the Citterne, the Base-Violl, the flute, and the Treble-Violl’, and in its recommendation to a specific group of musicians. What Morley fails to reveal, however, is the purpose of this compilation of twenty-three arrangements or why he recommends them to the waits in particular. The assumption has to be that these pieces reflect a repertoire of an already-established ensemble and one that was, at least in the case of Morley’s collection, particularly associated with the waits.

From Bill Barclay’s Music in the 2012 Globe-to-Globe Festival

In the Olympic summer of London 2012, Shakespeare’s Globe hosted thirty-seven theatre companies from around the world to perform a different play by Shakespeare in their own language, producing an unprecedented six-week complete works cycle beneath the halos of the Cultural Olympiad. The Globe-to-Globe Festival produced a magnetic parade of wonders, each humming with resonance along London’s ethnic fault lines, leaving Bankside daily awash in linguistic rarities, cultural reunions, political lightning rods, and nationalistic celebrations. The festival was also a maelstrom of musical industry featuring rarely heard ethnic genres, instruments, and songs that dynamically served Shakespeare’s stories in fresh and integrative ways. In the deliberate absence of a common tongue, music’s role as universal emotional storyteller has rarely seemed more relevant to international communication and understanding.

The strands of discourse that swirled about the festival were many and occasionally charged; the Cultural Olympiad’s World Shakespeare Festival echoed the Olympics in further welcoming the plurality of the world to share a stage in all its harmonies and controversies, disappointing in neither. The particular glory of London’s hosting was the amplification of its own immense multiculturalism, and for one spotlit summer it held itself up to nature as the leading representative microcosm that it is. The structure of the festival was designed somewhat to enhance this effect; visiting companies were partly selected by what Festival Director Tom Bird called ‘London languages’: those that are widely spoken throughout the city. Each company varyingly brought out fellow speakers from the woodwork in a constant linguistic revolve ensuring that everyone played to crowds who both could and could not understand what was being spoken. A geographic balance was further sought to represent productions from six continents as equally as possible.

Various conventions affected everyone: subtitling (though only of short scene synopses) in two boxes far stage right and left; an allowance of recorded music if they wished – a rare embrace of amplified audio at that time in the Globe; access to Globe Associates of Voice, Text, and Movement; and a mere three days to rehearse once and perform twice. They all performed rain or shine, saw as many other productions as they could, socialized at the bar, and fully soaked in their extraordinary moment. There is a densely littered trail of press and publications detailing each production and its unique context in the festival, but although the current state of international Shakespeare performance was (through the Globe darkly) on acrobatic display, few writers have surveyed the festival as a whole.

In freely comparing the various musical approaches at play, it feels just barely possible to glimpse the state of music in Shakespeare internationally – from 1991, the birth of its oldest production, to those newly produced for the festival twenty years later. My method was to review the entire archive (I had seen sixteen of the thirty-eight shows live), and catalogue each production by certain metrics of musical approach: number of musicians, recorded music or live, musical genre, musicians’ positions onstage, and whether the production predated the festival. I particularly noted scores comprised of traditional musical styles native to their respective countries, as well as freely adapted productions that brought music into moments in the plays that typically go without. Adaptation was the most common sponsor of musical ingenuity; often the greater the freedom taken in translation, the more radical the production’s reconceptualisation of the story. In each instance these reforged versions left fresh creative spaces inviting music to assert itself and take a more substantial role in the narrative.

Those curious to see or relive the immense cultural exchange that took part in the early summer of 2012 have several options that all contributed to this chapter. There are first and foremost the productions themselves available on the Globe’s online Globe Player. There is the informative collection of essays entitled Shakespeare Beyond English; A Global Experiment (Cambridge), edited by Susan Bennett and Christie Carson. Finally there is a host of online reviews, features, and interviews chronicling Globe-to-Globe’s crowning of the World Shakespeare Festival and discussing the many ethnic pockets of London that resonated with it. As an introduction to the field, the thirty-eight productions can be roughly grouped into five families of musical approach. First, there are the through-composed productions that relied on music practically throughout, including Isango Ensemble’s operatic Venus and Adonis from Cape Town, Deafinitely Theatre Company’s Love’s Labours Lost in British Sign Language, and Q Brothers’ Hip-hop Othello from Chicago. Second are productions with an incidental musical score directly inspired by traditions native to their company’s countries: the Māori Troilus and Cressida, South Korean A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gujarat All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry IV pt 1 from Mexico City, the Armenian King John, and the Globe’s own Henry V. A third category comprises productions that used only recorded sound and were mostly built for indoor theatre runs at home: Vakhtangov Theatre’s Measure for Measure, the Italian Julius Caesar, German Timon of Athens, Polish Macbeth, Palestinian Richard II, and director Eimuntas Nekrošius’ iconic Hamlet from Lithuania (on tour since 1997). The fourth are productions that featured strikingly little sound and music at all including the Kenyan Merry Wives of Windsor, Argentine Henry IV pt II, and South Sudan’s Cymbeline. A fifth category includes productions that for exciting reasons fail to sit naturally in any of the former groupings: the exiled Belarus Free Theatre’s King Lear and Grupo Galpão’s circus-inspired Romeo & Juliet from Brazil.

Shakespeare, Music and Performance (Cambridge University Press) is now available to buy.

Watch filmed Globe stage productions on Globe Player.

#Music #Bill Barclay #Globe to Globe Festival #Book extracts #Join the conversation

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timmons71dyer-blog · 6 years ago

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joyfullymassivecollectorme-blog · 7 years ago

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