#Viola also loves royale high because I said so

[littleuda]

What video games I think the Wilderlore apprentices would play / Some Wilderlore gaming headcanons because it’s fun.

Shazi and Tadg play any and all games, they each have over 200 games on Steam and have all the major consoles. Tadg loves the ps4 Spider Man game because he thinks Spider Man is cool and likes pretending to be him. Shazi got Detroit Become Human because she was like “Cool robot game!” Then cried because she accidentally got one of the bad endings.

Viola likes gacha games like Genshin Impact and Cookie Run Kingdom, she likes the routine of getting on every day (and spending money) and she has the best builds for her characters. Her favorite game is Minecraft, one time she managed to get all of her friends to play on a server with her (minus Yasha who just watched Barclay play) but she’s the only one that plays on it anymore.

Cecily mostly plays indie games, she plays Stardew Valley just to make friends with Kobus and she knows all the FNAF lore off the top of her head. She also loves the Wii and has spent hours in the Mii channel, she tells Hasu all the drama that goes on in her Tomodachi Life game and makes up stupid songs at the concert hall.

Barclay is a pretty casual gamer except for when it comes to Pokémon, he has played every game and beaten them all. He loves catching Pokémon but always has one he’s super attached to that never leaves his team.

Hasu will play games with the group but never really on her own. She shares an Animal Crossing island with Tadg on his Switch and gets on every few months to look at the cute villagers, Tadg also adds stuff to the island he thinks she would like.

Yasha pretty much refuses to play games, the only game he’s really liked playing was Overcooked but Barclay and Shazi still haven’t recovered from the things Yasha and Tadg said to each other last time they played… one time Hasu tried to show Yasha Animal Crossing but he was just confused on why you would want to do chores in a video game.

[daedalverselore]

I asked about Cadence's daughter, may as well ask about her parents now too! XD Gimme some Crescendo and Queen Amore lore! Maybe about how they first fell in luuuuv or something? Would be rather fitting :'3

Yay- I love a good love story~! I hope I can write one well! XD

Princess Mi Amore Viola Aria is the youngest of four daughters of the Queen Mi Amore Arcobaleno Concerto of the Crystal Kingdom. But despite this, the crown is not promised to the eldest daughter. No, it is in fact picked by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. The Queen was to be the one who best embodied the Alicorn of love, Cherish's, ideals. So among the royal lineage, any of them could be crowned Queen.

As a result, Princess "Aria" was not a stranger to suitors seeking to be her royal consort. She rejected many to the point she was rumored to get her cutie mark for being icy to ponies. In fact, even her guards had to be seriously vetted so they would not hit on the Princess.

The Princess truly wanted love- not to inherit the throne, but because she felt lonely. She wasn't close to any of her family, and while she had a friendly personality, Aria felt deeply sad that all seemed to only want her for power.

Which brings us around to Crescendo Celestine- a spirited pegasus guard with a talent for using a rapier. Much like a fencing duel, he is very straight forward with his words and actions- not to mention elegantly dramatic!

Crescendo was fiercely loyal to the royal family and challenged those who insulted them to duels. But when dueling his opponent, somehow the banter that the pegasus engaged in during the fight turned the whole thing into a lighthearted, fun affair. Because of that, it rarely caused sore feelings after so he rarely got in trouble.

That charisma put Crescendo high in the ranks of the royal guard- until he was eventually offered the position of Princess Aria's personal guard. They had hoped that his loyalty to the royal family would translate into never wanting to overstep his role as guard.

(Cut for length. Also, suicide attempt warning and some red flag behavior that doesn't belong outside of fiction!)

Crescendo had never met the princess, and had only seen her from afar. He had never loved before, but upon meeting her, the stallion his friends were pretty sure was Ace awoke deeply enamored by Princess Aria. He saw the sadness in her eyes- as he too felt lonely in the midst of a sea of friends.

He had been warned not to harbor secret feelings for the Princess, so decided not to be secretive about it. When Crescendo's vows to be her royal guard started, the whole court was shocked to hear lines from marriage vows mixed in with the guarding ones.

The guard captain wanted to take Crescendo away then and there, but Aria found herself stopping him. Despite the murmurs from the court, the Princess took him aside to the privacy of the nearest balcony. This was the most blatant confession she'd gotten, and was slightly amused by the foolishness.

Aria bemusedly asked if he had mixed up his lines. He only smiled at her, kissed her hoof, and said he wanted to court her with marriage in mind. She told him he couldn't expect her to give him any power. Any of her sisters was just as likely- even more so, to be queen. So he could stop with the act.

Crescendo told her he would be happy to run away with her right now, without a penny to their name if that meant he could be by her side. This was all a little overwhelming for Aria, who while was intimidated of his intensity, felt pleasure from it.

Despite wanting to linger, Aria knew that her mother wanted her to marry someone richer than a guard. It was better not to entertain fantasy further less he get hurt. The Princess told him that he'd better leave, and that she'd find a new guard. He told her that now that he met her, he wanted to be near her always. He'd sooner perish than be without her.

So in her desperation to avoid her less than rational emotions, she muttered softly, "then perish."

The stallion saluted to her seriously, wrapped his wings around the front of his torso, closed his eyes and let himself drop off the balcony, back facing the ground below. The Princess wouldn't believe at first that he wouldn't save himself. But when she came to the balcony and saw him about to hit the hard ground, she caught him last minute with her magic.

As she brought him back up, she was surprised to find him very riled up. Crescendo demanded to know how she expected him to prove himself now, and demanded to duel her for toying with her emotions.

She found herself saying, "Don't threaten me with a good time." She wasn't sure why she said that, but found herself really enjoying the smile he gave back to her. It was clearly a bad idea to give this stallion an inch. But despite it all, she found she wanted to see what he would do next. For all of their relationship she didn't regret it.

Author's note: So, for their story I had a basic idea of Princess falls for her Guard, but it didn't really flow as a story until I found my character inspiration for Crescendo: Gomez Addams from the Addams Family. Now, it's implied that Gomez met his wife Morticia the day she died- kinda a hard story to translate to ponies, if I want them to not be undead, that is! XD

For me, Gomez and Morticia have that rare instant connection that would be very red flag territory if not mutually felt (and not even then sometimes). Aria here is different from Morticia in only that her royal upbringing means politically, she has to be careful about what she says.

I like to think that Crescendo brings unconditional love to her life, so they grow to be passionate like Gomez and Morticia. But Crescendo is very cray cray in this story and would have probably been imprisoned for a long time if Aria didn't actually like him.

(end note)

Wait, how did Princess Amore have Cadence if she lived 1000 years from the MLP present?

Other related asks I'd love to get:

Where did the Crystal Heart come from?

Why doesn't Aria get along with her family?

How come the royal sisters get to pick the Crystal Kingdom's Queen?

How does The Doctor fit into the Daedalverse?

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 6, Part 3

Bedtime is a whole routine when you have three young daughters and want like a billion more.

CW: Light dash of spice

If Viola is attempting to say something it will be in brackets, otherwise you can assume it's just trying out sounds Savannah aka Honeybee Mercedes aka Little Ladybug Viola aka Green Bean

While the twins babble to each other Cassandra and Rahul get a minute to chat in hushed voices.

Cassandra: Forget the pancakes, something else in this room looks good enough to eat big guy

Rahul: *chuckles and winks* Later, we’ve got to get these ones sorted. But you are also looking very tasty Mrs Chopra. So maybe we’ll both have some private dining later

Cassandra: *laughs* I do hope so

Rahul: Do you want to do night shift with Viola or should I

Cassandra: *through food* How tired are you? Because I can stay up several hours yet but you look fatigued

Rahul: I’m never going to be too fatigued to woohoo with you

Cassandra: *sighs* I know the feeling

Rahul: But since you asked I am feeling a bit drained

Cassandra: *smiles* Knew it!

Rahul: My wife is always right

Cassandra: A good life motto

Rahul: After we put the twins to bed I’ll nap then after you get Viola to sleep wake me up and we can… have dessert. After that I can keep an ear out for Viola

Cassandra: Deal *smiles* I love you big guy

Rahul: I love you right back my darling

Cassandra: And I love your pixel parts

For a while they eat in silence, each planning what could happen later.

Savannah: Mama! Papa! I all done

Rahul: Yes I can see that

Savannah: Mama lift me free?

Cassandra: *finishes bite* Here I come

Mercedes: Papa take me potty

Rahul: Manners?

Mercedes: *sighs* Peas papa

Cassandra: How about you honeybee

Savannah: Potty please mama

Rahul: Okay girls, Viola is sleeping so keep quiet. *sternly* I mean it, no funny business

Twins: *quietly* yes papa

Rahul: You’re both getting so big, you’ll be out of diapers soon

Savannah: We be potty trained?

Cassandra: You’re so close honeybee

Mercedes: Yay! Mama, papa, I not have oops

Rahul: Good job

Cassandra scoops her up and gives her an extra snuggle while Savannah finishes off.

Mercedes: Mama?

Cassandra: Yes little ladybug

Mercedes: Can I have story time?

Cassandra: What book shall we do tonight

Savannah: I pick

Mercedes: I pick! You pick last

Savannah: No you pick last

Cassandra: How about the Princess and the Pea? You both like that one

Rahul gets Savannah tucked in while Cassandra sits on the edge of Mercedes’ bed to read the story with the alternate ending Casandra wrote when she was a teen.

Cassandra: At this news the princess jumps up from the table spilling her breakfast and startling the king and queen. “You deliberately made me have a rough night sleep after I came seeking shelter in the rain? All to find someone delicate enough to marry your son?” The king and queen said-

All: It was the only way!

Cassandra: The princess turned to the prince, horrified and said-

All: You are no prince!

Cassandra: The princess continued “I may be delicate but I have a brain and self worth. I will not be your trophy.” The princess left the castle leaving the royals in stunned silence and made it back to her own castle. There she happily slept on her mattresses and no vegetables appeared in it as her people loved her. The prince-

All: Never ever wed!

Cassandra: And the princess was not known for being kept awake by a pea, but by her kindness and compassion for everyone in her kingdom

At the story’s conclusion Cassandra kisses both of her girls goodnight and heads to find Viola who has been napping in the high chair.

Cassandra: Wake up green bean, it’s time to try some food. Let’s see how you feel about applesauce huh

Cassandra scoops a small bit on the spoon and moves it close to Viola’s face so she can see it. Viola looks puzzled and sniffs at it.

Rahul: *tiredly* Come on Viola, you can try it

Cassandra: Big guy will you please go nap before you pass out

Rahul: I just want to see her try it *yawns* it’s her first baby food

Cassandra: Okay green bean, open wide

She smears some of the applesauce over Viola’s lips making the infant stick her tongue out. Cassandra sneaks some into her mouth and Viola holds it there, unsure of what to do with this not milk offering.

After a small swallow she is still unsure about it. Cassandra keeps trying to feed her hoping she will make up her mind one way or the other. Viola makes up her mind alright. She decides that squishing the food that falls out of her mouth is actually the most fun thing. Cassandra beings making some aeroplane noises to accompany the bobbing spoon and Viola begins to understand when to open her mouth, baby steps.

Cassandra: How was that then my little green bean? Did you like it

Viola: do da fru fru (I don’t know yet)

Cassandra: Well we tried. We’ll try some more tomorrow maybe. How about some milk huh? Nice warm milk

Viola: I aaa (my favourite)

After drinking her full Viola gets burped. Cassandra is delighted when just bubbles come out. The twins spat up a lot after feeding but Viola hardly ever does. It’s fascinating for Cassandra to see how early her children are individuals with their own personalities. Hopefully once Viola becomes a toddler the house won’t be without an infant for long.

Cassandra carries Viola into the nursery and notices she’s seeming agitated. She’s fidgeting and has started breathing much faster than normal.

Cassandra: What’s wrong green bean

Viola: ca na doo (the rain is scary)

Outside is getting pelted with heavy summer rain. In the nursery the sound of rain on the main roof is enhanced by the noise of rain hitting the glass roofs covering the porch and patch of yard. Viola peeks over Cassandra’s shoulder fearfully and nuzzles her nose into her mama for safety.

Cassandra: Is the rain a bit loud Viola? I suppose it is rather heavy tonight. Would you like to hear a song about it

Cassandra holds Viola close and rubs her back while singing itsy bitsy spider. Her mind travels back to hearing her mother sing it to her and Alexander when the storms made it seem like the mansion would wash away. After a while Viola’s breathing slows down and returns to normal.

Cassandra: There there now, see Viola, rain is nothing to be afraid of

Cassandra places her infant down on the changing table and begins a diaper change. Not long into it Viola lets loose and pee spurts everywhere! Cassandra doesn’t enjoy being coated but she is happy to see Viola now chuckling away and kicking her little legs. After wiping down herself and the infant Cassandra carries Viola to her crib.

Cassandra: I know you seem to soothe yourself but mama will put a lullaby on to help since the rain is so loud

Viola sticks her foot in her mouth in response.

Cassandra: I love you Viola. Have good dreams and be kind to your papa if you wake in the night okay

Back in her room Cassandra cheekily wakes Rahul up with some tickling.

Rahul: Hello to you to

Cassandra: Are you feeling more rested now *kisses*

Rahul: I don’t know. I look at you and my heart races. Did you get Viola down alright

Cassandra: She was a bit worried about the rain *kisses* but a song calmed her down

Rahul: Will you sing me a song

Cassandra lies next to him and runs her hand along his cheek as she thinks about how best to respond.

Cassandra: I thought you knew, I have a symphony of sounds that is just for you

Rahul: Luckily your symphony invites audience participation

Cassandra: Just yours and mine big guy

Rahul pulls her close and after a deep kiss the two head under the covers. When they’re done for the night a moment of peace descends over the property as every living thing sleeps.

Previous ... Next

[balletroyale]

Asked and Answered: Royal Ballet (At long last)

Clara debuts for Bomin, Viola and Marianna! Thoughts?

Bomin and Marianna have always caught my eye so far, I'm really pleased with them. Viola I hadn't ever really noticed until that competition, and even then I wasn't terribly impressed. But hope she's improved since then!

Curious to see which cast will get the live cinema of Swan Lake for Royal Ballet. Also wondering if we will get any debut for Swan Lake

I am still not-so-patiently waiting for Campbell's debut in Swan Lake. I'm sure it won't happen but please, Kevin, shock me.

I think Swan Lake is probably going to be Naghdi/Ball or there's a slight chance of Kaneko. I'm really hoping for Lamb though; there's not a professional recording of her Swan Lake and she doesn't have too many left.

wild question just for fun - predict 1-2 future royal ballet principals from the current artists/first artists :)

Daichi Ikarashi, Bomin Kim

Osipova and why she only has 4 shows for fall season (theory/spectulation)

I don't want to be weird about her personal life, but I think there's a few reasons why Osipova doesn't have a lot of shows this upcoming autumn season (based on what I've read/heard):

1. She said in a 2022 interview (I think in the Guardian?) that she wants to have children. I'm praying she's able to conceive. It's going to be such big news in the ballet world if she does get pregnant/announces her pregnancy

2. She said she wanted to focus more as a director of her Bloom Dance project in the future rather than perform the same dance roles she's done so many times (Kitri, Odette/Odile). 

3. She's now 37 and embracing age, even said something like "I used to get 16 shows but now I get like 2, 3, 4 shows now." 

Basically I believe that she wants to focus more on her personal life now and have children before she gets older. 

I think all of this could be true but I don't think it's particularly strange she's only performing 4 times in the autumn. there are plenty of principals doing that, it just doesn't happen to all be in the same production. She probably isn't doing Nutcracker because she has to do two casts of Don Q into November and then is going to be filmed in Manon in Feb.

Do you happen to know why there is so much criticism about natalia osipova? In my opinion she's a true talent and definitively a ballerina that will go down in history for her amazing feats. And I just see people kind of brush her off like she's not the legend she is! I'd love to know if you have more information on this..

There's a few reasons, I think. Firstly, she isn't the type of 'trendy' ballerina we see today. This may be controversial but I see her much more like a Soviet-era dancer than a modern one. She is fast, she isn't too concerned about getting her legs as high as possible, and performance comes before technique. She is not long and graceful. I also think that people who see her in person have vastly different experiences seeing her in-person vs. on a video. She dances for everyone in the house. Her expressions are exaggerated in order to do this. In a video, this comes across as overacting instead.

[omgthatdress]

How to make Cats a good movie.

I watched Cats, and once I got over the initial horror, I was actually pretty entertained and found myself enjoying the shit out of it. Like god bless it, for as nightmare-inducing as much as it was, Tom Hooper was clearly *committed* to his vision and you gotta give him credit for that. The scenery was actually really beautiful and the cinematography was frequently breathtaking. Like it really did have a lot of elements that really worked for it. But for every bit of genius, there was something terrible that the movie just couldn’t overcome. So let’s dive in.

First of all, you kind of have to understand Cats: the musical. It’s an adaptation of poems that T.S. Elliott of nihilistic lost generation fame wrote for his godchildren about cats. And the poetry is charming af and totally captures the nature of cats and why they’re so lovable. In the in the 1970s, Andrew Lloyd Webber did a shit ton of cocaine and decided to make a musical out of these poems. As a result, Cats has no plot. It’s a bunch of cats singing their songs about who they are and doing a lot of dancing. The thinnest of narrative devices is created with the “jellicle” ball and the deciding of which cat gets to ascend to heaven or some shit. So yeah. Cats is actually pretty controversial among theater nerds, it’s very much a you either love it or hate it thing. Is it stupid? Yes.  Is it going to make everyone happy? No. Does it lend itself well to film adaptation? fuck no. I get the feeling that Tom Hooper was really going for deep, meaningful poetic cinema here and trying to make another Les Mis (which was way overly long and ultimately sank under its own sheer weight as a movie and probably is better viewed as a play). I’m operating under the assumption that Hooper was going for ground-breaking cinema that would have made millions and swept up during awards season and cemented him as a legendary director and gone down in movie history, because every little detail of Cats is clearly meant for maximum impact. You kind of need to drop all expectations going into Cats, so once you’re there, you can have fun with it. So how do you make it a good film?

1. The HORRIBLE hyper-realistic cgi human-cat hybrids. YES, it’s a technical marvel, and the CGI artists who made it all deserve a ton of credit for the work they did. And I understand why the actors were kept in their human shapes: live dance is a huge part of what makes Cats work. One of the smart decisions made was hiring theater veterans for the filler roles in the cat chorus, so when you have the choreographed numbers, it’s really spectacular. It’s just the end result was way too uncanny valley and bizarre for any of the film’s good parts to ever rise above it. I think a minimalist approach would have actually worked best. Cat ears and simple costumes with clean lines that show off the dancer’s bodies. Go for the suggestion of cats, and kind of let the viewer’s imagination take over, and showcase the cat’s personality. A huge part of what I enjoyed was hearing the poetry and imagining these cats and how they all relate to cats I’ve known. The dance and the music helped heighten this experience, but hybrids kept reminding me of the joke: what do you get when you cross a human and a cat? An immediate cessation of funding and a stern rebuke from the ethics committee.

2. The schlocky, honestly amateurish attempts at slapstick humor. I’m gonna come out and say it and say that Hooper is pretty deeply entrenched in *dRaMa* and has no sense of how comedy works. There was a lot of added in comedic bits from Rebel Wilson and James Corden, and it was honestly terrible. I mean really, a crotch hit? That kind of lowbrow comedy is so crude and base that it’s actually really hard to pull it off well. Slapstick comedy actually lends itself to the whimsical tone, and slapstick done well can be utterly sublime, but Cats seemed satisfied that fat people falling over is the height of comedy and should be left at that. And a second note on the comedy? Weirdly fat-shame-y. A saw a post about how odd it is to see James Corden, who has been very frank about how he’s struggled with dieting and come to accept that his body is fat and can’t be made not fat, playing this role where fat is added to his body, his CGI vest strains at the buttons, and he’s literally stuffing his face with garbage. The theme of fat people as lazy, stupid, and slovenly carried over from Rebel Wilson’s role, in which she also plays a fat lazy cat who is leaned on heavily for comic relief. I know the role is about a fat cat, and gently laughing at a fat lazy cat who loves to eat is fine, but, speaking as a fat person myself, this felt like a gleeful exploitation of a nasty and cruel stereotype. James Corden and Rebel Wilson are both extraordinarily funny people who happen to be fat, and their comedic gifts were tremendously mis-used here, reducing them to simply two fat bodies to be laughed at.

3. Jennifer Hudson. She’s a talented actress who can sing and emote like a motherfucker. And emote she did. She was clearly GOING for that second Oscar. I really don’t want to call her performance bad. The same level of emotion, tears running and snot flowing, in another movie, would have been devastating (Hello, Viola Davis in Fences). But this isn’t Fences, it’s fucking Cats. You need a level of character depth and development that Cats doesn’t afford to make those tears hit. All the crying and misery was an odd maudlin and over-dramatic break in the fun and whimsy. With a subtler performance and a hint of self-awareness, it could have actually brought in an emotional anchor for this light-as-air film, but Cats doesn’t make any attempt at nuance, and as a result the scenes just hit you out of nowhere like a load of bricks. 

4. Francesca Hayward. Okay, before we go anywhere, I want to say that this girl is not un-talented. She’s the principal ballerina of the Royal Ballet, and has a very long list of ballets that she’s lead in. So it makes sense that she’d be hired for a role that’s primarily ballet. This girl is a really really great DANCER. But Cats was clearly trying to make an A-list actress out of her. They tried to make her into Florence Pugh, who has been acting for a while and is blowing up right now because she’s very talented. Like everything about Francesca’s role in the film said “This is a star-making role.” A new song was written just for her to sing as an addendum to Cats’s show-stopping signature song. But the song was just okay, it didn’t carry nearly the emotional weight or all-around beauty of “Memories,” and all in all felt wedged-in and totally unnecessary and really just felt like a grab at that “best original song” Oscar. Francesca’s voice is high, thin, and child-like. It’s not unpleasant, but next to the richness and depth of Jennifer Hudson’s voice, it crumbles, and it’s not the sort of voice that I want to seek out to listen to over and over again. As for her overall performance, she largely keeps the same look of wide-eyed wonder throughout her numerous close-ups, so much so that I found myself thinking of the the MST3K “dull surprise” sketch. But I don’t know if that’s really entirely her fault. There was an attempted romantic storyline with the magic cat, but again, because of the nature of Cats and its lack of real character development or depth, the chemistry fell flat. There really isn’t much of a chance to show off a lot of dramatic range, so to keep going back to her character, it kept reinforcing the one-notedness of her performance. Really, I just kept wanting to see Francesca dance. Ironically, I think they really blew an opportunity trying to make an A-list actress out of her. All she really need to make people want to see more of her is one spectacular dance number, but for some reason, she never really gets that show-stopping moment. 

5. Dignity? I guess this goes back to the whole CGI cat thing, but there were a lot of moments when I felt this tremendous wave of second-hand embarrassment hit me on behalf of the talented actors in this film. Watching Gandalf lap up milk from a saucer was a wholly uncomfortable experience, like come on, grant the great Ian McKellan some fucking DIGNITY here. Which goes back to whatI said earlier that a suggestion and interpretation of cats would have worked better than all-out just being a cat. Or it could again just be how much Cats just fails its attempts at comedy. But then again there was no fucking reason at all for Idris Elba to be that fucking NAKED. I guess they were trying to make him sexy? But his sexy smolder and just being Idris Elba wasn’t enough they had to make sure that we all saw his chiseled pecs and thick thighs. And then at the end when he’s dangling off of the rope of a hot air balloon and what’s supposed to be a funny scene, I think, I kept thinking “I’m so sorry this is happening to you, Idris.” 

There’s a bunch of other small, nit-picky things that I could go into. Those cockroaches would have worked so much better if they weren’t humans with an extra set of arms. Watching them get eaten was some horror movie shit. Taylor Swift’s Macavity song would have worked a lot better if the cat chorus full of cats we’ve gotten to know had sung it, but instead Taylor Swift is brought in as a new cat we don’t know whose only purpose is to sing the Macavity song? but of course a big oscar-bait movie needs to have that pop star that draws in the people who wouldn’t otherwise see it and making her a part of the cat chorus would have had her performing throughout the whole movie and she would have floundered the way pop stars tend to do when performing musical theater around a bunch of musical theater actors. So I guess I get why she was thrown in.

So.... yeah? Is there anyone else who found themselves enjoying it in spite of everything? I’m glad I have dogs and didn’t have to watch this mess with actual cats around me.

[lovemychoices]

The Lost Prince - TRR AU [Epilogue] / TRH : Royal Rhys [Prologue]

After being married for three years and unable to produce an heir, Liam and Riley are about to give up when Liam gets an unexpected news that changes his life forever.

Genre : Romance, Drama

Characters except my OCs belong to Pixelberry, I am just borrowing them

Word count : 2k++

Chapter Summary: 28 years later...

A/N : One stories closes another begins. I’ve decided to put the epilogue of The Lost Prince and prologue for the sequel together because it seems to work.

TRH : ROYAL RHYS, is a sequel set 28 years later from the events of THE LOST PRINCE. Theon and his siblings are all grown up. The OG will still be in the series from time to time but it’s mainly about the kids. 😊

Sorry for any typo’s and grammatical errors. Also this is tagged under long post.

Warning : The sequel will contain mature content in future chapters such as NSFW, Violence and a few triggers which I will mention on the chapter. Only read if you are 18 and above.

Do let me know if you want to be added to the sequel.

28 years later…

Somewhere in Greece.

It was already past noon when he began to slowly flutter his eyes open as the small ray of sunlight peaks through the closed curtains of the hotel room. He slowly lifts his head up as he takes in the surroundings of his luxurious penthouse suit, a few empty shot glasses on the table and a few empty bottles of liquor along with it. Clothes scattered all over the floor and next to him was her, sleeping soundly.

A low grunt escapes him and presses his palms between his forehead. “Fuck, I probably had too much to drink again last night.” He slowly removes the sheets and carefully gets up from bed trying not to wake her up. As soon as his feet touch the floor he reaches for his boxers and pulls them on, gathering the rest of his clothes, getting dressed before leaving the room being careful not to let anyone see him.

“Hey it’s me, meet me at the back.”

Hunter Dominic Rhys was the youngest of the twins and the black sheep of the family. At the age of 3 he was already giving the nanny a field day with his mischief and shenanigans. By the time he was 16 he already had 20 different kingsguard assigned to him eventually breaking his uncle Leo’s record.

He makes his way towards the back entrance of the Hotel. As he enters the black SUV and takes a seat his phone beeps, he takes it out from the pocket of his jacket and reads the text a wide grin forms on his face as he does.

Had fun last night, hope to see you again soon. Xoxo

“Seriously man, I can’t keep covering for you.” The driver on the front seat said, giving Hunter a look between annoyed and worried.

“Common Jackson if there’s one Kingsguard who I know I can trust it’s you.”

“You know this is just going to bite you in the ass if her husband finds out you’ve been screwing with his wife right?” Jackson said with an eyebrow raised.

“Then we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t..” He answers with a smug look on his face. “We’d better head to the private airstrip. I wouldn’t want to miss my family's Friday night dinner. My mother would never let me hear the end of it.”

Jackson rolls his eyes before putting on his aviators. “If you say so, your royal highness“.

************************

TREND studio, Cordonia.

She stood at the back of the stage, waiting for Ana de Luca to announce her name. She was invited as a special guest today for an interview.

And without further adieu please welcome today's special guess, her royal highness princess Alexandra Rhys of Cordonia.

“That’s my cue.” She murmurs to herself, putting on a perfect smile and adjusting her posture before she saunters out to face the audience and the cameras.

Alexandra Kenna Rhys, the older twin, was the poster child of the Rhys family. While her brother’s were off involving themselves in mischief and her sister rummaging her mother’s closet playing pretend dress up, she would be spending her days at the palace library reading. By the age of 24 she was already a world known author and she’s also known for her philanthropy. Even Theon had his bad press days, but there was never one about Alex. She was always primp and proper for the camera but off cameras Alex had a secret that no one knew about.

Alex approaches the couch and shakes Ana’s hand as they greet each other, they each take a seat shortly after. The sound of the audience cheering slowly dies down and they begin their session.

“Thank you for agreeing to join us today, your highness.”

“The pleasure is all mine Ana. You know I’m always happy to come to your show.” She smiles.

“Firstly I would like to congratulate you on the success of your charity last weekend, I believe you managed to collect a generous amount from the people who attended.” She said and the audience clapped and cheered.

“Thank you Ana, but you know I could have done it without the support of my family and all the other people involved.”

“Humble as always.” Ana said with a smile. “So your recent book the sequel to The Elementalist was a huge success early this year and there were rumours going around recently that you are currently working on a third book. Is that true? Could you give us a little spoiler?”

“Uh well there is definitely a third book on the way, which I’m hoping would be out sometime later next year. Fingers crossed.” She said, crossing her fingers in front of the audience. “It’s going to be the final book and it’s taking place during the group's senior year.”

The audience cheers in excitement.

“That’s great news! I’m sure your fans of the book will be eagerly waiting for the official release.” She said with a smile. “So on to the next question and I’m sure it's something the audience has been dying to know. How are things in the love department so far? You and Jackson Walker have been dating for almost a decade. Are we going to hear any wedding bells soon?”

Alex shifts her position, her body tenses a little but conceals it perfectly before anyone notices. “The two of us have been doing well but you know we each have our busy schedules. I’ve been away a lot on business and he’s been busy handling Hunter. There hasn’t been any talk of wedding bells yet.” She answers with a plastic smile. “But if there was as always you’ll be the first to know.”

The two exchange pleasantries for another twenty minute until it’s finally time for Alex to get off the set. When she gets to the back of the stage she finally feels like she could breathe, a successful charity and an upcoming trilogy but all people were obsessed with was about her love life? She and Jackson agreed on keeping their relationship as private as possible away from the cameras but whenever there was a picture of them taken together it was always perfect, they seemed perfect but were they really?

Hey.. Saw what happened at the interview. Want to meet up tonight and talk about it after dinner?

Alex bit her lip, thinking about what she would reply.

Cant, I need to focus on my next book. Maybe some other time?

“Your highness, the SUV is ready for you.” Her assistant informs her.

“Thank you, Lily.” She said and headed off to get ready for her family’s dinner.

*****************

The Royal Palace - Ellie’s room

Ellie swipes through the racks of Designer gowns sent to her from all the top designers in Europe, she’s trying to choose the perfect gown for her upcoming 21st birthday party.

“So I’ll need two dresses, one for my entrance and the other for when I blow the candles. What do you think of this one for my grand entrance?” She asks pulling out a beautiful Navy blue ball gown with golden embroideries on it.

“It looks pretty.” Was MJ’s answer to every dress she took out and showed him. Ellie frowned, narrowing her eyes at him. “You’ve been saying the same thing to every dress I’ve shown you, how am I supposed to decide like that?”

“I’m a guy Ellie, I don’t have a keen sense of tayes when it comes to haute couture or fashion. All I know is that you’d look stunning in whatever dress you choose.”

“Ugh.. Give me a break MJ.” Viola groans, rolling her eye roll as she struts into the room. “Sorry I’m late dear old mummy had a dog emergency. She tosses a few shopping bags on the settee before rummaging through the rack for a few options, taking them out and laying them on the bed one by one. “Here, these are the ones that would bring out the colour of your eyes the most.”

“You're my lifesaver Viola, you know that right?” She beams, giving Viola a hug before taking a few of the dresses and trying them on in her closet.

“Nice to see someone finally decided to show up.” MJ shrugs at Viola.

Viola gives MJ an eyeroll. “Unlike you, I actually have a social life. Plus didn’t you hear me when I said I had a family emergency?”

“If by social life you mean sleeping around with half the court then hard pass.” MJ claps back, making Viola scowls. In MJ’s defence, he has caught her a few times hooking up with other nobles, most of them already had partners. The last time he caught her was during a party at his uncle Bertrand’s estate, he was on the way to the garden when he saw her coming out from the tool shed looking slightly disheveled and coming out after her was none other than his cousin Bartie.

The disgust on his face when he found out his cousin was hooking up with her when he was engaged to someone else. When MJ confronted Bartie, he said it was a mistake and that it won’t happen again. He made MJ promise not the tell his fiancé and MJ agreed, only because Clara was a nice girl and she didn’t need to get hurt by one mistake.

“So what do you guys think?” Ellie asks as she steps out of the closet and twirls around in her dress. MJ eyes go wide open and his jaw drops. “You look beautiful Ellie.”

“Usually, I don’t agree with MJ but I’ll make an exception for this. You look drop dead gorgeous.” Viola exclaims.

“Really? Thanks, but I’m still putting it in the maybe pile. These dresses are really pretty, I just. I don’t know.”

“Well if there’s nothing you really like, what about the dresses you’ve designed?” MJ suggested. “I’ve seen your sketches Elle, they’re really good.”

“I would be lying if I said the thought never crossed my mind. But my mom pulled a lot of strings to get me all these dresses.”

“I’m sure she would understand besides it’s your big day. You should tell her about it during dinner.”

“Then it’s settled, I’ll let my mom know during dinner.” She smiled.

*******************

Castelsarreillan Estate, Cordonia

Theon nods attentively with a forceful smile plastered on his face as he listens to King Eirik endlessly talk about his adventure back in the day.

It was like any normal afternoon for him, attending a diplomatic luncheon that was held at the Castelsarreillan estate. As the crown prince and future king of Cordonia it was his obligation to attend such events but recently for the past year he noticed those obligations were becoming more and more. His parents were becoming less involved and he could start to feel the weight of the crown getting heavier.

“I’m sorry your majesty for the interruption, but there’s some pressing matters that require his royal highnesses attention.” Natalia said, whisking Theon away from the crowd and to the otherside the room. “Thanks for that.” He murmurs into her ear. “I was beginning to think you’d leave me there just hanging. And by the way, thanks again for coming with me on such short notice.”

“Well what are assistants for. Speaking of you should really find your own assistant.” She said, raising an eyebrow at Theon. “I can’t babysit you all the time.”

Theon chuckles. “I’m sure my mom won’t mind if I borrow you for a little longer. Besides, you love babysitting me.” He said, giving her a playful wink.

Natalia chuckles. “Careful now your highness people might talk if they see your flirting with the help.”

Their coversation is cut short by someone who approaches. “Pardon me your highness but the Duke of Krona would like to have a few words with you.”

“Ah. Of course, I’ll be there a bit.” He said, turning to Natalia with his champagne glass raised. “Duty calls. Oh and have the helicopter ready by six, I wouldn’t want to be late for family dinner.”

***********************************

Kings Office, Cordonia.

Liam sat on his leather armchair slightly pushed back, absently swirling the glass of scotch in his hand while staring at the picture of his family on his desk. He had been ruling Cordonia for three decades and during his reign he managed to achieve peace and prosperity in the country like he had always hoped for. But he couldn’t have done without help from the love of his life.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Liam turns his gaze and smiles when he sees his wife standing by the threshold. “No, I was just thinking.” He places his glass on the oakwood desk. “About what?” Riley asks, sauntering towards him then takes a seat on his lap, wrapping one arm on his shoulder.

Liam looks at his wife, taking in the sight of her. The way she smiled and her dimples that showed when she did, even after she started to age she was still beautiful and he was still madly in love with her like he was all those years ago. “I’ve been thinking.”He smiles, tucking the lock of hair that strayed behind her ear. “I’ve had the most peaceful and prosperous rule throughout my reign as king. Granted there were a few imperfect moments. But everyone of them I got through because I had you by my side.”

Riley chuckles. “You give me too much credit love. But you would have been a great king with or without me.”

“Modest as ever.” He said with a smile. “I love you Riley, I know I’ve said it maybe a million times but every word of it is true.”

Riley leans in and kisses her husband on the lips, when she pulls apart she smiles warmly at him. “I love you too Liam but where is this going?” She gives him a questioning look.

“Riley, the both of us. We’ve been through alot together, we faced scandals, threats from our share of enemies, we raised four beautiful children together while running a country.”

Riley chuckles. “How could I forget, but everything was worth it because it made us stronger as a couple.”

“It has my love. But there comes a time in a king’s life when he just wants to be a man and enjoy every moment of his remaining life with his wife.” He takes her hand gently and traces soothing circles. “Liam, are you saying?”

“Riley, love. I have decided to resign as the reigning monarch by the end of this social season. We could finally spend all our days on that private island just you and me. No country to worry about no buzzing press, I really it’s time and Theon, Theon is ready whether he knows it or not. So what do you say my queen? Are you with me?”

“Are you kidding me?” She pauses, her expression serious, it was making Liam a little worried but she quickly changes it into a gleeful smile then kisses her husband on the lips once more. “Liam Rhys, I cannot wait to spend every single day of retirement and have you all to myself.”

Liam chuckles. “You deserve it.”

“We both do.” She adds. “So when do we tell the kids?”

“How about tonight, during our dinner?” He grins.

Riley leans in and kisses her husband one more time. “Sounds like a plan. Now I need to get dinner ready.” She abruptly stands and heads out but not before stopping at the threshold, turning towards her husband once more. “I love you, my King.”

“And I love you, my Queen.”

********

TRR/TRH @charliejane-blog @dcbbw @hopefulmoonobject @cmestrella @pixieferry @lodberg @traeumerinwitzhelden @romanticatheart-posts @gnatbrain @the-soot-sprite @zaffrenotes @texaskitten30 @ao719 @desireepow-1986 @emceesynonymroll @jessiembruno @kinkykingliam @jlpplays1 @annekebbphotography @thecordoniandiaries @rainbowsinthestorm @cordonianroyalty @lauradowning29 @msjr0119 @janezillow w @heauxplesslydevoted @cordonia-gothqueen @kacie-0156 @bebepac @queenjilian @sanchita012 @iaminlovewithtrr

[bluewhores]

This is "Radio Rebel," live from the underground. You don't know who I am... But I know who you are... Because I'm one of you. I got a "minus" in participation... But you can't give me a "minus" for who I am! So, since grades are being handed out, I think I'll give all of us at Lincoln Bay High an "F," for labeling each other. Jocks. Outcasts. Queen bees and their fellow pops. And... new-born pops. Guys, these are all labels, not who we really are. Once upon a time, now those differences just divide us. You deserve to embrace your awesomeness. Stand up for who you are. Reject the status quo. I dare you. Okay. Last night. "Radio Rebel... " ...was awesome? As usual! "Reject the status quo" is my new life motto. She's so... inspiring. So... herself. I wish I could be more like her. You should talk to your step-dad. What? Why? Uh, he runs Slam-FM, the biggest radio station in Seattle. Maybe he could give you an internship. That'd be a confidence booster, right? Are you kidding me? He's been married to my mom for, what, two months? Probably thinks I'm a total step-freak. I freak out when he asks what kind of cereal I want. I just wish I could talk to everyone the way I talk to you... I guess that's why you're my B.F.F. B.F.F.T.L.E.W.E. "Best friends for totally, like, ever, without exception. " Catchy. You need a relaxation technique. When I'm memorizing lines for drama, I imagine I'm breathing in the words. Audrey? What does that even mean? A- h-h-hem. You need to Bree-ea-athe your wo-o-o-ords. How can you even breathe at a time like this? Problem, Barry? Last night, Radio Rebel revealed the biggest clue yet about her identity. She goes to our school! She mentioned it at minute 14:30, in Tuesday night's podcast. Wow, obsess much, Larry? Obsess? Please! I- I would hardly describe myself as "obsessive. " What? It's flu season! It's so exciting. Someone on the radio who's actually one of us. She could be that girl. Or... or her. Or... Or her. Or that girl that girl. No. That girl's too tall. Radio Rebel's voice sounds 5'6" to me. And her hair is reddish. Like Tara's. No. She's nothing like Tara. Hey! What's... that supposed to mean? Oh. We... We love you, but you're nothing like Radio Rebel... Who's definitely a blonde. And you know this how? Radio Rebel is my soul mate. For example, I also got a "minus" in participation. How can that be? You never shut up! Exactly. Honestly, it's a relief that we broke up. The whole long-distance relationship thing was just lame. Well, I'm glad you've moved on, because you've already had three formal asks to prom. Alan Ackerman... He's too short. Think of the pictures. Okay. How about Jamie Wardle? Have you ever noticed how pointy his head is? It's like a triangle. How do we "reject the status quo" when the status quo is... status quo? Like Radio Rebel said... Be ourselves. Audrey! So, next... Erin Brooks is officially campaigning for prom queen. I just confirmed it on her fan page. Whatever. No competition there. Why don't I have a fan page? I'll get right on it. Hi, Stacy. How's it going? This... is what I was talking about. Everyone thinks they can just talk to us because of that eternally lame "radio babble. " Methinks she protests too much. Yeah, we thinks... Wait! What do we thinks? That maybe she is Radio Rebel. Like I would ever encourage people like you to talk to us. Ah-hah! So you admit you listen to her. This one's staring at me. Make it stop. Please don't stand so close to us. You and I aren't any different. Like Radio Rebel said... no words. You don't think we're different? Watch and learn. Principal Moreno! Stacy! Is everything all right over here? Actually, no. Audrey was trying to get me to listen to some podcast in class. Of course, I said no. What? No. I mean, I never... you know... That there is an anti-distraction policy. Let me see your bag. But I wasn't even listening to it! Well, now you can't, can you? You, too, young lady. Hand it over. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Stacy. Get it now? Your little DJ hero doesn't know what she's talking about. Oh? Does

"her royal shyness" want to say something? I... Huh? Uh... I thought not. Bye, girls. Greetings to our loyal fans. This is Gabe and Gavin, or as you know us... the "Gees!"... ...coming at you to say thank you for voting for us to play at your prom. We'll make sure it totally rocks! Well, well, well, look who it is. Lincoln bay's own Internet sensation. Hey, Stacy. Gavin... and Gavin's camera. I heard you guys are playing prom. Pretty sweet. Bye. Dude... You are in. What do you mean? Stacy and her college boyfriend just called it quits. Which means, as of right now, she doesn't have a prom date. I can't ask her to prom. Didn't you see that? "Hi, Gavin. " It's the band, man. We're getting some heat, a little attention from the ladies. Your stock is on the rise, and Stacy's noticing. Well, what would I even say? Listen to me. Okay? Focus. Eye of the tiger. Don't stop believing. We are the champions. Are you just quoting song titles? This is your chance, man. Seize the moment. Our fan base is expanding... to other schools, the city... I still feel like that awkward kid with a guitar just hanging out in your garage. Forget that nerd! Now you're "Gavin. " Of the "Gees. " We're going all the way, baby! Recording contracts, sold-out stadiums. Gees for life? Gees for life. Ow! All right, everybody. Today, we are going to be working on a project with Mr. Saul's drama class. Oh, here they are now. Come on in, people. Please, pick a seat. Quickly. This is so exciting! Gavin! This seat is free. I will be pairing you all up, and... What is Gavin doing here? Uh... he's in drama? You know, you could talk to him. Since, like, the first Harry Potter movie. Ugh... No. No, he's... He is a newborn pop. Totally wrong social bracket. The best thing for me to do is just avoid him altogether. Gavin's not elitist like that. Ask yourself, what would Radio Rebel do? You will be translating a scene from Shakespeare... Hey. It's a good thing we're in class together now. Saves me from having to find you later. Oh? And why would you have to find me? 'Cause I wanted to ask you something. About prom? I need a volunteer. Who would like to write a scene suggestion on the b...? Board. Ahem! Oh! Did you wanna... pick a volunteer? I got excited. Drama is my life. Okay! Who wants to write a suggestion? Let's see hands, people! Okay... hands, hands, ha... Tara! How about you? Come on up. You can do it. Just don't make eye-contact. I was thinking maybe that we could... Hello! Walk much? Uh... Oh! Okay, people. Settle, settle. I still need a volunteer. Are you all right? Are you okay? Hey. Delilah. Look at this. Cami Q called me, she told me I had to check out this new podcast girl. She's... she's really something special. That's for my pedicure.

That was the latest single but who are you, exactly? I think we're always juggling a bunch of different "you's". Like, when you're with your friends, sometimes, you're the funny one, or the loud one... No! N- n-n-n-n-no! How about with someone you like? Which "you" shows up then? Which is probably why I never talk to him. Or do you feel like you're 17 different people, too? Yes, I do! I totally feel that way! She's amazing, right? Exactly what Slam-FM needs... a fresh, new vibe... to get us out of this ratings slump... You need to ask Tara what she thinks! It could be a bonding moment. Yeah... I mean, I could... I could... I could do that. Be, like, kind of a bonding thing. Step-daughter, step-father... Mm-hmm! Stop eating my "foot fruit. " I will, uh, I'll do that. I'll talk to her, about it all. You can do it! It'll be a bonding thing. Yeah! Huh. - Hey! - Rob? What are you doing here? I live here. Okay. Thanks for stopping by. So! What do you think of Radio Rebel? What? Why? It's just I just want to get your take on her, that's all. She's great. Bye now! You know what? I... I knew that you'd think so. I really did. You know? We have so much in common, you know? Yeah, like, we're both super-busy. So, I... look. I know that this is a really difficult transition for you, and, with your dad working in Taiwan, and your mom and I, and... I just want you to know that you have a friend here. It's fine. I'm fine. Really. So, this is good, right? I mean, here we are, we're hanging out, we're listening to Radio Rebel, and... Together... That's weird. What happened? The music just stopped. Did yours stop? Where'd she go? And that rounds off the final set for my favorite local band. Now, here is an extra long track just for you guys. I hope you dig it. You're Radio Rebel? That depends. Am I in trouble? No! No, of course not. I... I... I don't know how you're doing that? I mean, you're so shy. I am. But... she's not. I don't know... It just works. I can't believe it. I mean, I-I love it, I just can't believe it! We're gonna take Slam-FM to the next level. I'm... I'm sorry, "we"? Yeah! I... you're gonna be Slam-FM's next big thing. You're hired. That's for sure. You're hired. Oh, I just happened to be eavesdropping! I hope you don't mind. O- m-g! My baby is gonna take slam to the next level! What's the matter? What if I mess it up? Oh, honey. You have to take risks. Like, I always thought chartreuse was a bad color for me, and then I tried it, and now it's my trademark. How do you know something isn't fabu, if you never try it, right? Look out. You're in the twelfth night group with Stacy and Gavin. No, no, no. No, I can't. Talk to him. He's just a person. Go on. Go. Do it. Hey. Cool shirt! I love that band! "You first" rules. The Gees can only dream of being that good some day. The Gees are totally as good as you first. Really? Okay! Here's our scene. Tara is viola. Now, Tara this role does require both walking and talking. Think you can manage? Just kidding, you know I love you. Okay, and, Gavin, you're orsino. Wait... What about you? Brower has me directing. And we've got a lot of work to do. If you like you first, you should check out "red letter day. " You ever hear of them? Uh-uh! No band talk right now, gav. Sorry, but I don't want anyone to think I'm favoring you just 'cause I'm your prom date. Speaking of, we need to work on your prom king campaign. Of course, he's taking Stacy to prom. Look, at least you talked to him. For you, that's major progress. I barely got two words out. Come to my house tonight. We'll do yoga. I'll teach you the "extended hyena" pose I invented, and we'll listen to Radio Rebel. I can't. What do you mean? It's Radio Rebel's first show on Slam-FM. Do you realize how epic that is? I mean, she was popular before, but now it's, like, the whole world will be listening, including us! I have plans. What plans? Family plans. You are the worst liar. You sound just like you did when you said you liked that haircut I got at the mall. It wasn't that bad. It was mullet-adjacent. Tell me what you're hiding, or

I'll start screaming in three seconds. - What? - One... - Audrey, no-no-no! - Two... Well? I'm sorry. I can't tell you. I thought I was your b. F.F.T.L.E. "Without exception. " Then... Why don't you trust me? Gavin. 3:00. Your 3:00, or my 3:00? We have the same 3:00. Oh. He's coming over here. What do I do? Oh! For the record, this is why you don't ice your friends out. Hey, Tara. What's up? So, do you wanna run lines on the weekend? Or we could mime the lines, if you're not feeling particularly talky? "Mime. " "Talky... " I'm gonna go. M- me. N-now. Um... Okay... Tara! Free meals! Score. Hey, Seattle! You're listening to Slam-FM! I want Radio Rebel ads on every major social network, just blast the Internet... updates every hour. Want to blanket the market. Good. Bye. So, I was talking to your mom about keeping Radio Rebel on the q. T., and I think it's a good idea. You know? I don't want you to talk to anybody about it. Radio Rebel is the shot in the arm that Slam-FM needs. Since the last show that I produced with snazzy dog crashed and burned, there's a lot hinging on this. Right? Including my job. But, no pressure. Okay? So, your show's gonna run 7:00 P.M., Monday to Friday, since that was the time that you broadcast from your room, and you'll be taking over from... DJ Fluffy Mac! Who is moving to Sunday night. All right, so let's show you the booth. Tara? Hey! Tara! Remember me? Cami q. We met at the slam Christmas party. When rob told me you were Radio Rebel, this was my face... "Wha...?" 'Cause I thought you were just this little shy thing, but you are all kinds of amazing. You... Are fierce! I just can't wait to see what you got goin'... Tara? Are you okay? I can't speak to Gavin without freezing, how am I supposed to speak to all of Seattle? It's no different than recording in your bedroom. Yes, it is! In my bedroom, I could pretend that nobody was listening, but, right know, I know that everybody is listening, and rob's putting all this pressure on it, and my mom wants it to be my "chartreuse moment," and I don't even like chartreuse, I don't even know what chartreuse is. Tara? Come out where I can see you. Everybody gets nervous. It's totally normal. Just... Consider me like your best friend here at slam. Catch your breath. Then we'll go out together. Okay? All right. This whole booth is all for me? We call this "the live room," 'cause when that red light is on, you're live. If you wanna move around, use this headset, so we don't miss anything. There's your vocal-masking button. You already know all about that. Song selection's up to you. All right? There's, like... 20,000 songs here. You've got some time before you go on if you wanna practice, get comfortable? Practice... Great. Okay, um... Maybe I should play a song, just to make sure I know how to... No. No-no-no! Bad practice, bad practice. Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. I'm right next door, if you need me. Just pretend you're in your bedroom. You're on in 15. 14. 13. 12. 11. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three... You're listening to Slam-FM! This is the Radio Rebel show! This is Radio Rebel, live from Slam-FM. Moving the show from my bedroom to the slam studios was a bit terrifying, but life's all about change, right? Maybe some people just wanna label you as one thing, compartmentalize you, and walk away... But we don't have to let that stop us from becoming who we want to be... Or, like that kid with the remote-control car... to invent the first all-green rocket ship. Or the girl who gives everyone carnations on Valentine's day, just so no one feels left out... Maybe she'll grow up to be president. Guys, if we just drop the labels and the cliques... ...We have no idea what we're capable of. Okay, if you're with me on this, wear red tomorrow. It'll be like saying that, despite our differences, we're in this together. This next song... Is from "red letter day. " Ahem! Do you like my glasses? But you have freakishly good vision. Fashion shouldn't be functional. Do you know why I picked red rims? I assume you do because of your red shirt.

I can't believe all these people are wearing red just because Radio Rebel said to. How cool is that? So you did listen to Radio Rebel last night! What happened to your mystery plans? Can you guys tell us apart? You guys are fraternal, not identical. Hey... We just ran a recording of Radio Rebel's show through a voice-analysis app. We're closer than ever to uncovering her true identity. Picture it: "Local twins crack Radio Rebel's I.D." Soon, I'll be able to profess my undying love. We'll be famous. I mean, we could get a reward. Or at least our own reality TV show. ...where she and I could be married, live on TV. Tara? Since your step-dad runs slam, maybe you could help us out. Oh. I'm not allowed to go to Slam-FM while, um, she's there. To keep the mystery, uh, mysterious. The truth is, Tara doesn't have time to do friend-related things. Audrey? Audrey. Audrey! What? Forget it. I'm leaving. I'm about to tell you something so top-secret, you have to promise never to repeat it to anyone. I won't tell anyone. I swear. Hoo. You can say it. Um... Tara! You have to breathe your words. Come on, breathe the words. Breathe in! Ahem. I'm... Radio Rebel. Oh! I don't believe you. If you're like me, and believe music can change the world one track at a time, you're gonna love this track by one of my new fave bands. Wow. I can't believe she's... you! I mean... you're her! I mean, you're the last person I'd expect to be Radio Rebel, Tara. It's been driving me crazy, not telling you. And, of course, I've been wanting to hang out, but I've been doing my show. Here's the thing... you can't tell anyone, not even tell Larry and Barry, because slam wants to keep it this big secret, and so do I. Remember... Twelfth night is all about mistaken identity. Tara, your character has a crush on Gavin's character. But she's hiding from the law... or whatever... so, she's disguised as a guy, and Gavin's character doesn't know you like him. So, you're in agony. I need to see real pain. Let's do the end again! And... act! My sister likes this guy. And, by "my sister," I-I mean... My sister, not me... at all... 'Cause... look at my pants. See? I'm totally a dude. Does this guy... like her, too? That's the tragic part. She hasn't told him how she feels, so... She's not sure if he feels the same way. What's she waiting for? For him to make the first move. But, tell me... If she never confesses her love, does that make her love any less real? Okay! Some of that worked... And some of it didn't. There is a fine line between pain and constipation. Let's take five. Oh, you, uh, you dropped... Oh, thanks. Is that a demo? For the Gees? Yeah, you know, trying out a few new things. Actually, I'd love to try out some more new stuff, to be honest. - Like, I've got another song... - We're back! Let's go! Come on! Get up, get up. Come on. Go, go, go, go. Get in positions. Oh! Let's try it with Tara wa-a-a-ay over here. Yeah! Mm-hmm. Perfect! Perfect. Uh, I love it! Okay. Hold on. Tara? Did you want to say something? She's fine. Action. Tara? You listen to Radio Rebel, right? You were wearing red yesterday, so I figured. Rebel's right. Life's about taking risks. Making changes. So... Go ahead. Say what you feel. Well, it's just, this scene... It's about... Us falling for each other. Even though we don't know it yet, and, I... And blocking like this feels weird, right? Right! Exactly. Yeah, I mean... The audience is supposed to get what we're feeling from what we're not saying. It only works if we're... Closer. Yeah. Yeah. I like that better, too. Okay. We clearly need extra rehearsal. My place. Tonight at 7:00. Oh... I can't tonight. There's... Wednesday's mandatory family dinner... With my... family... Dinner. Fine. Whatever. Lunch. Tomorrow. Everybody's a director now. Good job. Okay. You people at Lincoln bay high killed it with the red yesterday. I noticed one of you wearing these red specs that were the epitome of cool. But can we talk about what's not cool, for a second? How the school keeps confiscating our stuff. I mean, I've lost two sets of headphones and an

mp3 player, although I did notice that some of us seem to be exempt from this little "stuff snatching" epidemic. Funny how that works, huh? Guys, it's not just our playlists and players we're being deprived of, you know? Music is the soundtrack to our lives. It's where we've been, and where we're going, and everywhere in between. Our music is who we are. Are we gonna let someone just snatch that away from us? Or are we... gonna change the game? Here's a new song about, uh... Trying things you never thought you could. Like, I've been trying to do a bunch of new things lately, and this song severely inspires me. So... check it out. Vibe it, really, really dig on it, and, then... remember that feeling. Tomorrow at 8:00 A.M., stop what you're doing, get up, and dance. Just express yourself! Let yourself out. This is "turn it all around" by the Gees. You're all going to get into so much trouble for this! Radio Rebel doesn't tell me when to dance! Time to take your own advice! This is a place of learning, anyone listening to Radio Rebel during school will be suspended. And, Radio Rebel, I advise you to turn yourself in now, or your future will be radio silence. Nice! Hey, Tara. Can I talk to you? Uh... Hmm! Yeah... It's about our song. We have a... we have a song? The one Radio Rebel played last night. Oh. I couldn't believe that she likes our music. Then I wondered... How'd she get our demo? Got anything you wanna confess? It's you, isn't it? It's me? It's me? You're the one. Which one, of the one of... You're the one who gave the cd to your stepdad, to give to Radio Rebel! Yes! Thank you! Yes, yes. That's the one. I'm the one. I'm the one with the... I like it, it's a great song. Thanks! But... It doesn't really feel like my voice. It's like... people are hearing me, but they're not hearing me. That sounded crazy, didn't it? No, no. Not at all. I totally get you. Uh... Well... Thanks again. Oh... Radio Rebel is amazing. She's really... She gets caught in my head, you know? It's like... I'd be able to recognize her on the street, just from how well I know her from her show. That'd be, um, something. Yeah. See you later, Tara. Bye, Gavin. You're listening to Slam-FM! That's her! I know it, I can tell! Radio Rebel is an old guy? With a beard? Ever hear of disguise, Barry? Seattle's hottest DJ... the Radio Rebel show! Did you see the posters? Did you see the posters? Hard to miss. They're everywhere! My mom just called me and said she saw me on the bus. I was like, "no, I'm at slam. " She was like, "no, no, no, you're on the bus! Of the side of it!" They're spending money on marketing for you, which means the ratings must be up. You're famous. No. I'm not. No, Radio Rebel is. Even Gavin has a thing for her. That's good. We like Gavin. Right? Yes, we do. And it was hard enough when I just had Stacy to deal with, now I'm competing with myself for his attention... And I appear to be losing. Baby, you've got fan clubs at every school in Seattle. I mean, look at all the petitions! "We want a dance break every day. " "We want more Radio Rebel. " "Don't take our music away. " Wait... I have a really good idea. Okay. This is what we're gonna do. What is going on? Well, Moreno can't complain about us disrupting class time, because it's lunch. This was your idea? Ooh! It's brill! Hello, Lincoln bay! This is cami q coming at you live! Y'all feelin' good today? Listen up, I've got a special message from our good friend... Radio Rebel! This is Radio Rebel coming at you with a little lunchtime surprise. That girl invaded our airwaves, now, a lot of you guys have im'ed and texted me about the powers-that-be taking away our music, part of ourselves is being taken away. That's not gonna make us better students, and you can't punish someone for relaxing during their down time. Right, principal Moreno? You stole our music, and I'm giving it back. Text in requests! Lunchtime is our time. You're on school property! Actually, beyond this point is city property. Did you want to see my permit? Move! Move! Move! This "radio hor-Rebel" has got to go.

It's kind of a fun dance! No, it's not. Stop that. Go vote for me for prom queen again. Go! Oh! Can I have your attention, please? I want you all to know that this lunchtime fiasco was a... Fiasco! It is time for a certain DJ's reign of Rebellion to come to an end. Anyone with any information regarding the identity of this Radio Rebel is to report it to me immediately, or risk facing disciplinary actions themselves. Now, get to class. I just want to say that I could not agree with you more. I, for one, thought that display at lunch was disgusting. "Radio dribble" should pay for pulling a stunt like that. Oh, don't worry, Stacy. Disruptions like today are temporary, but I can enforce disciplinary measures that can last forever! Like diamonds? And rice cakes? No words. You mean... You can expel Radio Rebel? Well, her actions were in direct defiance of my policies, so there will be consequences. All I can think about now is rice cakes. Sorry, guys, I was thinking. - What are you doing? - Sorry. I think we can do better than this. You know, actually say something with our music, something meaningful, relatable. I was... um, one, you don't stop in the middle of a song, man. Okay? And, two, our fans don't want a message, they want to party. You want meaningful, go write a poem. Stick with what's working, alright? The top. Since when do our fans determine what we play? It's the price of fame, my friend. One! Two! Three... Now that we've got a following, I think we can finally afford to take some risks, and express ourselves creatively... we're giving 'em what they want, alright? No more, no less. Okay? Okay. Gees for life? Sure. Gees for life. Attaboy. All right! From the top, boys. If you don't go to Lincoln bay high, you missed out on a rock-star day. I've never seen so many people dancing. So my listeners at hoover high were so inspired by what went down at Lincoln bay, they had a full-on flash-mob at lunch today. You guys totally need to post a video on my web page stat. Yeah, I heard the mathletes and the water-polo team just formed a pops/non-pops alliance club. You guys are my heroes! He said this show inspired him to stand up to his boss and get the raise he deserved. See what I mean? It's never too late to make a difference, guys. Tara! I have news! But we can't talk here. Excuse me? Could you give us a minute? But this is my office. Guess who got nominated for prom queen? Stacy? You did! Well, not you. Radio Rebel! This is horrible. The whole point of Radio Rebel is that she's anonymous, remember? What's gonna happen if she wins? Who's gonna go up there and accept the crown? I could get expelled. I have to put a stop to this. Are you crazy? You can't quit now. Not now, Mr. margowsky! But I need the broom. Audrey... I can't do this anymore. - You can. - I can't. - You can. - I can't. You can! Not now! I need the dust pan, too. Here. You're a hero to people, and that's why they nominated you. You can't turn your back on them now. This is your time to shine. What if I don't want to shine? What if shining really isn't my thing? As your b. F.F.T.L.E.W.E., I'm legally obligated to make sure you do the show. Even if I have to drag you there. Hey, Tara! We've got another demo on the way for Radio Rebel. Oh, I'm sure she's stoked to hear it. Yo, Gavin. We love you, man. Clever. Make friends with the girl whose dad runs slam. I like the way you think, bro. Her name's Tara. Who cares? She's actually really nice. Whoa, wait. You're not, like, into her, or anything, are you? 'Cause that would not be good for business. What do you mean? We have fans now. Dedicated followers. Those are the kind of people that you should be spending time with. You don't even know her. Okay. I don't need to, and neither do you. Think of the band, man! Think like a rock star! Why did we have to park so far away? Because we can't risk anyone recognizing your car, or us. Now wig me. Oh... This cardboard is inflaming my eczema. Do you have any aloe vera? Will you concentrate? Why do you always get the cool stuff? Shh-shh. Focus!

This location is compromised. Let's move. Keep it steady, keep it steady. Buh-buh-buh-buh! Binoculars! Focus, Larry! Come on! Droppin' stuff... Got 'em! Okay. Go! Get 'em. Blend in. Blend in. So, this... is where the magic happens. This is so cool! Is this the famous Audrey Sharma? Nice to meet you! Could you girls excuse us for a moment? Look, if this about Audrey being here, she's the only person I told, and I totally trust her. No, this is not about Audrey. This is about you. Principal Moreno called. The lunchtime dance party, that was a mistake. She wants to expel Radio Rebel as soon as she finds out who she is. Well, as long as she doesn't know it's me, you shouldn't have a problem. I can't take that chance, though, can I? What do you mean? I may run Slam-FM, but I'm your stepfather first. It's unfortunate, but this has gone too far. Yes, it has. Too far to stop now. Look, this is bigger than slam, or Moreno, or even me. I can't turn my back on the thousands of people who finally feel like they have a voice. And I'm not going back to the shy, invisible girl who's afraid to even speak. Look, I know that it's risky, but I'm not going to back down. You know, I think that's the most that I've ever heard Tara say at one time. You're on in two minutes. Good luck, kid. A lot of you want to know who I am. Come on, come on to mama. Maybe it'd be easier if you could see my face. But that's the thing... 'Cause it's not about me. It's about you! You don't need to know my name. You wanna know who I am? I'm somebody who's tired of being afraid. I know how it can hold you back, so, say it out loud. Just say what you're afraid of. Call in. I... dare you. I guess everyone's too afraid to say what they're afraid of. Maybe this song'll inspire you. Lines 1 through 20! You're on with Radio Rebel. One time, I accidentally swallowed a tiny piece of tinfoil, so now I'm afraid if I stand too close to the microwave, I'm afraid of getting cut from the football team. I'm afraid Larry might be losing it! I'm afraid I'll always be a single integer. I'm afraid of power outages. I'm afraid to do my own thing. I was, too. Was? So, what changed? I guess I... Started doing this show, and I realized... You're not as alone as you feel. If you can remember that, it might be a easier to take a risk. Do your own thing. Yeah. Thanks. We'll take more calls in a minute. In the meantime, you guys are gonna seriously dig this next song. Hey! Where are you going? Just... somewhere... To do... something. I'm afraid of hyenas! I'm afraid to show people the real me! Congratulations! What? Your prom queen nomination! It's on the school website. I am so excited. But what about principal Moreno? Mom, if Radio Rebel wins, and I confess my identity, I could get expelled. I don't care about principal Moreno. Honey, people nominated you for prom queen because you inspire them. You're standing up for your beliefs, and that's all I care about. I don't think I'm going to prom. Let me rephrase that... all I care about is you standing up for your beliefs and prom! You have to go! It's prom! Y... nuh! No! - Let me fin... - You have to! Uh! Yeah. Okay? You're going to prom. You're going to be excellent! Ooh! This is your principal. There's been some controversy about the identity of Radio Rebel, and there is nothing more distracting than controversy. Now, I gave her the chance to do the right thing and turn herself in, but... She chose to hide, avoiding the consequences of her insubordination. Well, she can't hide forever, which is why, until Radio Rebel's identity is revealed, I'm canceling the prom. For everyone! She can't do this! She can do whatever she wants. She's, like, the principal. Now do you think there's favoritism at Lincoln bay? Not Moreno... "Radio feeble!" She's destroying everything! Why should we have our prom taken away just so she can make a point? This is bad. This is really, really bad. Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Save our prom! Prom is a rite of passage. If Radio Rebel is really all about the people, then

she'll reveal her identity and give us our prom back! How are we gonna get in there? Who do you blame for your prom getting canceled? Oh! Look, everybody! It's Radio Rebel. Go, go, go! Go-go-go-go! Show us who you are, Radio Rebel! Who is it? I can't see! Are we live? Hi, out there in radio land. A lot's happened since we last hung out, huh? Let me know what you guys think. Call me, text me, scrawl on my wall. Don't be shy. Do you know how many dreams you've crushed by canceling prom? I agree with the last caller. I'd just gotten a date, and now it's over? This is the last time I'm listening to you. Ever! Who do you think you are? You disappointed everyone! Do you even care about anyone but yourself? Do you know how many dreams you've crushed? Dream crusher! Dream crusher! Do you know how many dreams you've crushed? You're a dream crusher! You ruined everything! Okay... You guys are being honest about how you feel. You're on, line two. I've always liked you, Radio Rebel. Your playlists truly rock, but... Go ahead. Let it out. It's just... There's a girl I was hoping to impress that night. Sorry about that. Yeah. Me too. Wow. Guess you guys are... pretty upset. Well, uh, I'll just play some music. This next song's for you, guys. Thanks for being honest with me. I'm sorry I let you down. They're just angry. They'll, uh, they'll come around. It doesn't take away from all the good things you've done as Radio Rebel. Did you hear them? They hate me. I ruined their prom. I feel horrible. You didn't ruin it, that principal did. I knew she was angry, but I didn't know she was gonna do something like this. Man, that Moreno's such a backwards-thinker. "Backwards... " That's brilliant! What? Backwards! "Backwards. " I thought everyone would be gone by now. This calls for a professional. Somebody order the "meaty subtacular?" Hello? Hi. Could you do us a favor? Sure. You want extra marinara? Aw! That would be awesome! Audrey. And... focusing. I am the hyena! You see those girls out there? We need to get out of here without any of them seeing us. You can count on me. I'm just sad the world'll be deprived of me in my prom dress. It's a strapless number, it's oh-so-chic, it's... A Turkey on rye? Hello, Seattle! Care to comment on Radio Rebel? Yes, I would! You're listening to DJ dancing-sandwich! That turntable's spinning in a funky groove. That sandwich can dance! Dance, dancing-sandwich! Whoo-ooh-Whoo! When I hear her, I've got to move! I got the groove! Would you get back down? You're blowing our cover, Larry! I can't do it, man. I think I felt a human hand. That was my hand, Larry! [Whines in Wha-ha-ha! Good morning, Lincoln bay high school! This is cami q from Slam-FM, bringing you a special message from... Radio Rebel here. Unleashed your fury about the prom drama, and I want you to know, you've totally been heard. Canceling prom was monumentally unfair, but blaming Moreno isn't gonna solve anything. I want to do something about it, and so does slam, we're giving you all what you want... your prom back! Slam-FM is throwing its first-ever "morp!" That's "prom" spelled backwards, 'cause we're turning prom upside-down. Tickets are free, and everyone is invited! So, don't worry about finding a date, on a dress and a tux and a limo. 'Cause that's the way we like you. Got you! It's just ridiculous. "Morp?" Who ever heard of a morp? That's the whole point, I think. To do something totally different. It could be great. You know, Gavin, I thought you would've been more upset about prom being canceled, considering we were going together. Well, yeah, but... We can still go to morp, right? It's not the same! I mean, no limos, no dresses? What is the point? To come as you are. What about prom king and queen? People were nominated, somebody has to be crowned! It's, like, law! Why don't you call Radio Rebel and tell her that? I'm sure she'd love to hear from her number-one fan. We need to rehearse. I'm not going to fail this assignment because you two have zero work ethic. I think we're in trouble. So, I've been getting a billion questions about

the morp, which rules, 'cause you all seem stoked to go... Which is the whole point, right? A party where everyone feels like royalty? But, then again... Maybe we should crown a morp king and queen? I mean, after all, people were nominated. Look, if that's what you guys want, that's what we'll do. Morp is all yours. For your favorite morp king and queen. Make your voices heard... Especially my number-one fan. Hi. Is Tara home? Uh, sorry, sweetie, she's not here. Hmm. I'm in her English class, we're supposed to study tonight. Do you know where she is? Afraid not. I'm just here trying this new experimental cuticle-rejuvenation technique. Do you wanna try? No. Thanks. Uh, do you know when Tara might be back? Sorry, sweetie. I don't. I'll tell her you stopped by. Tah-tah. I am so parched! What I wouldn't give for a smoothie right now. How about you, Gavin? Are you ready for a break? Sure. Tara, do you want anything? No, I'm fine. Thank you. So... Tara. I'm having a party at my place tonight... And, in the spirit of Radio Rebel, I'm inviting everyone... Even civilians like yourself. Uh, gee... Thanks, but I have plans. Really? Same plans as last night? I went by your house. I could've sworn you said Wednesday was your "mandatory family dinner night," but your mom had no idea where you were. Strange, huh? I- I was, uh... library. You were, "uh... library?" Sure you were. There's no way that you were, say, DJing a radio show at that time? No. Why would you think that? Radio Rebel mentioned her "number-one fan" last night. That's what you called me yesterday. Must be a coincid... Save it! I'm watching you, Tara. If you think that I'm Radio Rebel, why don't you just tell principal Moreno? She already thinks you're perfect. Because I need proof... And, tonight, I will get it. If you don't show up at my party tonight, we'll both know why. Why do you even care? I'll tell you why. People are going to elect her "morp queen" because they want to find out who she is. But if they already know, they'll vote for the girl who truly deserves it... Me! This little DJ act is coming to an end. Soon. You are my hero! What do you think, Gavin? Should we take it from the top? Yeah. The thing about your character... Hoo! A party during Radio Rebel's broadcast? This is brilliant. Tonight, the mystery ends. Whoever doesn't show up... Hey. Hey. Where were you just now? You're sure you weren't setting up a broadcast station from a remote satellite? You're accusing me of being Radio Rebel? I've been helping you search for her all this time, I'm a guy! Ho, ho! A perfect cover, Larry. If that is your real name. Who are you? I don't know you. Oh. We're biology partners. I've gone to school with you since the first grade. I didn't ask for your life story, but thanks for coming. Have fun. One minute till 7:00! Hmm! And who isn't here? Exactly! Hi! Here I am. Hmph. So I see. But I'm still watching you! Go downstairs and watch her. Faster! Coming to you, only on Slam-FM, Seattle's hottest DJ... It's Radio Rebel! This is Radio Rebel, coming at you live from Slam-FM. Tonight is all about you. Lines are open. You know the number. I'm calling in to the show! Don't be shy. How are you here and there? You're on with Radio Rebel! Do you know you're a hypocrite? Hi. What's your name, caller? Save it! You say you're all about the people, but morp is all about you. Now you get to lobby for "morp queen" votes on the radio every night. Not fair! The other morp queen nominees should get equal airtime. Meaning me. Play... play track 15. I totally hear you. You "hear me?" I don't think you do. Say what you wanna say. I think you're using subliminal brainwashing to get people to vote for you. So I'm gonna take this opportunity to ask the school to vote for me, Stacy, for morp queen. Play 40 next. Hi! What's your name, caller? You already asked me that. I said play 40! You said 14. Play 33. Thanks for calling. I'm not done with you! Sorry, we can't all be winners, and I'm gonna win, despite the fact that I don't have an entire radio station campaigning for me, which really

makes me the underdog. Pick up, pick up... It's Tara! Patch me into the show! Why so quiet? Does the truth hurt? Do you want to know the truth? Stop hogging the bathroom! What was that? Um... I knocked over my chair. 'Cause I wanted to get close to the mic so you could hear me clearly. Oh, I can hear you clearly! I can hear you very clearly. I can heard you so clearly, Radio Rebel, that we could be in the same building! Same building? What, are you crazy? Are you here at slam, Stacy? I don't see you. Or maybe you're hiding somewhere? I'm just a little be worried about you, Stacy. I'm afraid that if I beat you out for morp queen, your fragile ego won't be able to survive. Can you hand me my jacket? What was that? I'm sorry. What? Who was that? That was my sound guy. We just got a brand-new demo in today called "my jacket. " We could play it for you. I have a better idea. Why don't you come forward and stop hiding like a coward? Would a coward be afraid to go up against you for morp queen? 'Cause I'm not. I'll see you there, and you'll see that I'm not afraid of anything. Thanks for calling! What are you doing in my bedroom? I was trying to find the bathroom. Your house is... what are you really doing in here? Looking at your photos. I remember you used to dress like that every day in second grade. I also remember being really jealous. Of what? Everyone making fun of me? No, how confident you were being yourself. I didn't know people made fun of you. It doesn't feel so good, does it? I don't need a lesson in manners from you. Now, get out of my room! That was amazing. She was freaked out! And Gavin just smiled at you. I think it was more of a general smile. It seemed pretty specific to me. Hey! We cannot wait for this! We're the Gees, and this is "we so fly!" I can't believe there's so many non-pops in my backyard. It feels like they're multiplying. Like cockroaches... and hangers. Are you kidding me? I didn't do anything. You bumped into me. You come to my house and you spill your drink on me? This cost a fortune! It was an accident, Stacy. Audrey would never do something like that on purpose, unlike some people. Do you know what your problem is? You know what? I don't care what you think my problem is. Keep it to yourself. I need a new outfit! Kim! Let's go! We're going! Thanks for that. I love how Radio Rebel is rubbing off on you, too. She's playing us. I know it. Now you just need to prove it. Okay... you can do it. Just go over there. Hey. You guys put on a great show. Thanks. But it's all Gabe. He's a good frontman. It's not all Gabe. Trust me. You know, ever since the band took off, people assume I'm this confident guy... But... I get nervous before gigs. Like, really nervous. Yeah? Yeah. We're not so different, I guess... Is what I'm trying to say. So... how do you do it? I try to remember I'm not as alone as I feel. Radio Rebel taught me that. She's a clever one. Yeah. She is. Slacker! Come help load the van. You should... See you. Bye. Pizza delivery incoming! There's pizza for cami q! Where is studio four? Anybody here? Cami q? I'm sorry, I kind of lost my cool in there a bit. Hey, don't worry. I mean, you'll get it. Hey, I'm gonna make you a DJ in no time... "DJ mama Rebel. " Oh, I like the sound of that! I was afraid we biffed the call. We nearly did a couple of times. You gotta hand it to her. I mean, Tara was right. You really can be in two places at once. I'm just so glad she asked me to help. I sometimes think that maybe she's a little embarrassed by her crazy mom. Are you kidding? She adores you. I mean, she talks about you all the time. She does? Oh! Mascara overflow! Excuse me. Oof! Ack! Hi! Did you order the "super-duper cheesey-pleasey vegetarian beef-o-rama, hold the drama?" Great choice! I can't get enough of this sauce. Not you? Okay! Sorry! Bye. Stacy! Stacy, I got it! I got... I think we're ready. Please remember your goals. Get your "actor" energy up! Tara! Thank goodness, I found you. There have been some last-minute changes to the scene. Don't worry, you can handle it. But does Gavin know?

Gavin is the least of your worries. Wait! This is the janitor's closet. What? Stacy! Stacy! Let me out! Enjoy your "f. " Romeo? Where are you? I mean, seriously, it's freezing out here. Why can't you just stop being a montague? The capulets are way cooler. Everybody says. My father isn't really a bad guy. He just watches too many movies. Let me out! Romeo, this whole feuding thing is really annoying... Dude, ready to rock out with the drama dorks? That's funny. Have you guys seen Tara? She's late. Move on, already! Pay attention to Stacy. You're turning into a real jerk, you know that, don't you? - Me? - Yeah. You're the one who needs to get his priorities straight. Or what? You gonna kick me out of the band? Is that what you want? Is for you to drop the stupid rock-star act for five minutes, and just try... try!... To be a normal person. Okay. I am the frontman of this band. This "rock-star act" is what put us on the map. If you don't wanna be a part of that, then that's fine with us. What happened to "Gees for life"? Hmm. Yeah. Ask yourself that. Enjoy your solo career, Gavin. Thank you very much. Next up is Audrey. Just bre-ee-eathe your words. Okay. Go. Ahem-ahem. Alas... poor spork. I used him, Harry... For he was a wondrous and versatile utensil. A fork and a spoon. Come on! Pick up the phone. Pick up the phone. Pick up the phone. Oh! Spork! Stacy! Have you seen Tara? No. Seriously? Oh! I have no idea where she is. I can't believe she'd do this to us. So unpro. We have to tell Mrs. brower we can't do our scene. Stacy Debane is not a quitter, and I'm not gonna fail this assignment just because Tara's a no-show. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to make an announcement. Stacy Debane will be performing in place of Tara Adams, who, apparently, couldn't be bothered to show up. Someone, let me out! Looks like it's just you and I. Thank you! Oh! See? Look at my pants. I'm a dude. What's she waiting for? I'm waiting for you to make a move. But, since you aren't going to, I'll make a move myself. Bravo! Bravo! Okay, everybody. Listen, thank you very much for all of your hard work. I appreciate it very much, especially... Oh, no. Look. He is so disappointed in you. And who can blame him? Okay, "radio drivel. " You were bad enough when you didn't talk. But trying to destroy me on your stupid radio show? Did you really think you'd get away with that? Look. You're wrong. I'm not her. If I... save it! You're not her? Then explain this... I was afraid we biffed the call. You really can be in two places at once. That doesn't prove anything. No? Then you won't mind if I email it to the whole school... And Moreno? What do you want? Morp queen. You're gonna make sure I win... Or Radio Rebel is. Tell everyone on your show to vote for me. And if you say anything about this little private moment, I'll tell everyone who you really are. Okay... I had a bad day. Kind of shook me up. It made me wonder... Am I doing the right thing? I mean, is it... is it worth it if I get expelled? Or if it messes things up with the guy I like? I don't know. What I do know is that there will be people out there who try and take things away from us, things bigger than prom... And we can just sit back and watch it happen, or we can stand up for ourselves. I mean, we all deserve to dance to our own playlists, no matter what Moreno or anyone else has to say about it. Oh. One more thing. Um... I know a lot of you guys want to vote me queen to find out who I am. I don't need that crown. But... Stacy Debane? She kind of really does. Just keep that in mind when you vote. There you are! I've been dying to show you this bow-tie I found for you to wear to the morp. It perfectly matches my dress. How cute is that? Stacy. What? I know what you did to Tara. What are you talking about? The closet. Don't bother denying it. I have a witness. What did Tara ever do to you? You don't know her, Gavin. She's not who you think she is. She's... no, Stacy. You're not who I thought you were. I can't go to morp with you. I'm sorry. But we're gonna be king and queen! I don't wanna be

king. I never did. Where's Tara? Where's Radio Rebel? Oh! My true love shall be revealed. How do I look? Uh, a little green. Could be the lighting... Or something worse. We're standing in a microbial hotspot right now. Whoa. - Hey. - Hey. You look amazing. Why, thank you! Have you seen Gavin? I- I really should talk to him. - Wait! What are you gonna say? - I don't know. - You mean you haven't...? - Not yet. - You know you need to. - I know! Are we missing something? Conference. Now. I don't know what to do. I'm freaking out. Just... breathe. Okay. Okay. Okay. You're beautiful. You're a queen, no matter what happens. Good evening, Seattle! You ready to find out who your morp queen is? It's time to see who's been crowned from Lincoln bay high. Yeah! We had two nominations for morp king, but one dropped out. So that leaves... Gabe leviolet! I'd like to invite your morp court princesses to join me onstage. Whoo! Don't be nervous. That's, like, the worst thing to say to a nervous person, Kim. I know. You're welcome. Let's hear it for Stacy Debane! And... Radio Rebel! Radio Rebel? Are you out there? Well, I guess we'll continue. Your morp queen is... Radio Rebel! We love you, Radio Rebel! Since she isn't here to accept her crown, maybe it should go to the person with the second-most votes? Most of you don't know me. I'm the girl who sits in the back of class, who never raises her hand, who's so afraid of saying the wrong thing, she says nothing instead. The old me would've frozen in front of a crowd like this... ...but something happened. Suddenly, the real stuff we were dealing with at school became more important than my fears. Look, I wasn't sure I was gonna do this tonight, but I need to be true to myself... So, here goes... I'm Radio Rebel. Thank you for an enlightening evening. And now that I know who Radio Rebel is... ...she is definitely getting expelled. Enjoy your morp, Tara! Oh! And don't bother coming to school on Monday. I'm Radio Rebel! No! I'm Radio Rebel. No! I'm Radio Rebel. Whoo! I'm Radio Rebel! No, I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! You can't expel everyone, can you? I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I'm Radio Rebel! I believe this... belongs to you. I mean, I guess since we're all Radio Rebel, this crown belongs to all of us. So, congratulations, kings and queens. But there is one person who has been dreaming about this crown for her entire life. Although, I'm not quite sure if I heard her say she's Radio Rebel...? I'm Radio Rebel. I'm so Radio Rebel! Well, then... Why are you being so nice to me, when I've always been nothing but mean to you? Look at you right now, Stacy. That dress? The crown? You are 100% you right now, and that's all Radio Rebel could ask of anyone... You are yourself, and you've never been more beautiful. Everyone! Please give it up for Lincoln bay's very own... Gavin Morgan! There's a girl I've liked for a while now. She's the kind of girl who's not afraid to ask a dancing sandwich for some help. She inspired this song. This song's for her. Hi. Hey. I don't know what's more amazing... That song, or... The fact that you're Turkey on rye? Why didn't you tell anyone I was Radio Rebel? You wanted to keep it a secret. I respected that. Thank you. You know, you really know how to dance... For a sandwich. Oh. Will you go to morp with me? Yes. So... Should I call you “Tara” or “Radio Rebel?” You can call me either. They’re both me.

[goodticklebrain]

Q&A August: Christy Burgess of the Robinson Shakespeare Company

It’s the final week of Q&A August! Let me take  you back to 2016, to my first ever Shakespeare Theatre Association conference, hosted by Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. It was the last day, and the morning’s warm-up session was being conducted by Christy Burgess and the Robinson Shakespeare Company, a community Shakespeare program for school-aged kids.  After several rounds of fun theatre games, Christy asked her students if any of them wanted to perform some Shakespeare for this objectively intimidating roomful of seasoned, experienced, and elite Shakespeare practitioners and educators.

Every single hand flew up into the air.

After some negotiation, a tiny girl in a pink dress, probably not more than nine or ten years old, stood up. Awww, this is so cute. Is she going to do Puck’s “If we shadows have offended” epil— NOPE. She narrowed her eyes and spat out Cloten’s “meanest garment” speech from Cymbeline with all the vitriol of a rejected privileged white man. My jaw literally dropped. HOW was this possible?

The answer was Christy Burgess. I’d actually met Christy the year before, when I drove down to  South Bend to see a couple shows at the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, and she immediately overwhelmed me (in a good way) with her energy, enthusiasm, and passion not just for teaching kids Shakespeare, but for giving them ownership of Shakespeare. Every single one of her students believes that Shakespeare is theirs. I’ll never forget Christy telling me what her students’ reaction was upon meeting a professional Shakespeare company: “Oh, you do Shakespeare too? That’s cute... WE  do Shakespeare.”

On a more personal level, Christy helped shepherd me through the impostor syndrome I suffered from while attending my first conference, giving me the confidence to find my place in the Shakespeare community without constantly apologizing for being “just someone who draws stupid stick figures”. Christy builds people up, and the world is better for it.

1. Who are you? Why Shakespeare?

My name is Christy Burgess and I am the director of the Robinson Shakespeare Company.  I am a teacher, director, and have most recently been christened “Shakespeare Maven” by my friend Julia.

Why Shakespeare? There are so many reasons for “why Shakespeare”.  The Robinson Shakespeare Company starts in 3rd grade and the first day of our 3rd-6th grade class is one of my favorite all year.  Many of our young actors have waited since kindergarten watching their older siblings or young adults they admire go through the program.  The anticipation and excitement on that first day of class is palpable, because they finally get to do Shakespeare.  It’s also become something that is a little subversive.  There are times when our kids are told “you don’t really like Shakespeare” or “shouldn’t you be playing sports?”, which has the effect of “don’t tell me what I’m supposed to like!”

In a meeting, someone asked one of my students “Why Shakespeare?”  She told a story I hadn’t heard before.  It was right after her father passed, before she went back to school.  She was walking around the track at her high school and passed an elderly white couple.  The woman said to her “shouldn’t you be in school?” to which her husband responded “Mary, don’t you know that’s how people get shot?”

This young woman said “when people walk by me, they might think I’m a hood or a thug, but Shakespeare is mine, something no one can take away from me.”  

When we study plays from Eugene O’Neil or Arthur Miller, it’s the world through their eyes, but when we play Shakespeare, it’s the world through OUR eyes.

2. What moment(s) in Shakespeare always make you laugh?

Scene 3.4 in Twelfth Night always cracks me up!  There’s something about the most non-threatening duel letter from Sir Andrew to Cesario/Olivia and the forced fight that is always funny.

Mya interjects: “Is’t so saucy?” is one of my favorite lines in Shakespeare. It’s such a stupid joke. I don’t care. I love it.

3. What's a favorite Shakespearean performance anecdote?

Every now and then there’s Shakespeare magic.

When I was teaching and directing in Alaska with the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre, I had made a comment to my young actors about performing in the rain.  I’m pretty sure they prayed for rain, because our last performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor, it POURED.  The audience ran for cover, but nothing could erase the looks of glee on the actor’s faces.  Falstaff’s line, “let the sky rain potatoes”, pretty much said it all!

In 2017, the Robinson Shakespeare Company (RSC*) was invited, and traveled, to England to perform in Stratford-upon-Avon the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s Shakespeare Garden.  The New Place recently opened and we discovered that we were the first group to perform there….if the weather held out.  There were numerous sunshine dances (involving jazz hands), prayers, and wishes.  The day of the performance, there was a storm coming right for us.  It was the closest thing to magic I’ve seen.  It was as if the storm was around us.  In videos, you can see the wind whipping the costume and the slightest drizzle of rain, but we made it!

*I know, I know, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Reduced Shakespeare Company, etc. I like to think of us as the Royal Shakespeare Company’s distant (many times removed), scrappy cousins that will be revealed if we do a deep dive on our genealogy chart.

This memory might be tinged with jet lag, because during the same trip I sat in-between two 12 year olds, who only fell asleep 30 minutes before landing.  When we arrived in Stratford, we were met by the incredible Cait Fannin-Peel (my Shakespeare wife and hero).  Our bed and breakfasts weren’t ready yet, so she took us on a tour of Shakespeare’s Birthplace.  They have an amazing little stage in-between the house and the giftshop where actors were performing bits of Shakespeare.  Cait asked if we would like to perform something.  Jet lagged, sleep deprived, and thrilled, it took about 30 seconds to plan out the opening to Cymbeline and start performing it.  Tourists surrounded us with their cameras and applauded when the scene was done.  It felt amazing as a director of young people to see them confident on stage in a setting that was incredibly different from what they were used to.  We have video evidence!

4. What's one of the more unusual Shakespearean interpretations you've either seen or would like to see?

Bart Sher’s Cymbeline at Intiman changed me.  The set was simple; a red raked stage, but by being so, it didn’t need massive set changes, we were with the story the entire time.  The production was funny, moving, and stunning.

I’m frustrated by Shakespeare that tries to distract you from thinking it is Shakespeare.  I’ve been in, or seen productions, where it’s like “look at these live animals” or “explosions” or “a fake ice rink that isn’t integral to the plot and is really slick in the rain, but look, people are ice skating for 30 seconds” that are unnecessary.  I believe you should be able to wear black clothes on a blank stage and get the story across; everything else is just icing.  If not, it’s not good Shakespeare.

Mya interjects: I am broadly in agreement with Christy here, except that I desperately want MORE live animals on stage. Dogs. Goats. Rabbits. Gerbils. I don’t care if they’re not textually supported.

5. What's one of your favorite Shakespearean "hidden gems"?

I don’t know if it’s a hidden gem, but I love Henry IV, Part 1 and 2.  I think it’s such a loss when they’re combined, because they are both stellar plays for different reasons.  Yes, Henry IV, Part 1 has all the action, but Henry IV, Part 2 has phenomenal speeches and you get to see just how devious Falstaff is.  Food for powder, anyone?

6. What passages from Shakespeare have stayed with you?

This quote from Romeo and Juliet is how I feel about teaching.  During the school week, I am in 24 classes in the South Bend community, mostly in Title 1 schools.  Last year, Tuesdays were long days.  I would teach six classes at a middle school, plus an after-school program, then direct the RSC.  That was approximately 190 kids and the day lasted from 9 am-9 pm.  It wasn’t, however, so bad, because I work with really great kids.  I feel what I give to them, they give back and the days don’t feel long.

“the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.”

Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, 2.2

Also “bless you fair shrew” which I say to my dog all the time when she sneezes.  

Mya interjects: BLESS YOU FAIR SHREW THAT’S THE BEST I LOVE IT

7. What Shakespeare plays have changed for you?

The first time I saw Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, I was twelve and locked myself in the bathroom and cried.  Seriously though, who didn’t?  Do you have a heart of stone???

Mya interjects: Yes. :P

During our 2017 trip, we took our RSC to see the REAL RSC’s Titus Andronicus.  Blanche McIntyre is a badass director.  It’s easy to dismiss, Titus, but she found depth, and urgency.  The show made our company better.  

My actors still refer to the performance when we talk about high stakes and urgency.

8. What Shakespearean character or characters do you identify the most with?

I love Viola.  She goes on such a journey and her “make me a willow cabin at your gate” speech moves me every time.  We don’t get to pick who we love.  I’m really lucky that I have a sweetheart who loves me, Shakespeare nerdiness and all.

If I could be a character?  Henry V.

9. Where can we find out more about you? Are there any projects/events you would like us to check out?

You can find more about us on our Facebook page, Instagram, and our website.

Notre Dame Magazine put together a gorgeous website that chronicled the six months they had a reporter with us as well as our adventures to England!

(Back to Mya) Thanks so much to Christy for answering my questions, but, even more importantly, for raising the next generation of Shakespeareans. I, for one, welcome our new Shakespearean overlords.

COMING THURSDAY: It’s two-for-one day with the bard bros behind one of my favorite Shakespeare podcasts!

[anmaria4001]

TAUREN WELLS

Tauren wells could be said to be my favorite artist.   I really like his songs because he is a worshiper of God. His songs are very youthful. Born on April 7, 1986 (33 years), his occupation as I said before singer.  Wells is married and together they have three children. Wells is a staff member of his father-in-law's church in Houston (Royalwood). Wells and his wife started at the Prisma Worship Arts School, to train musicians. Throughout the school, Prisma offers private training in piano, drums, guitar, bass, voice, violin, viola, and cello. The genres of music he produces are Pop, Christian Rock, contemporary Christian music. You can find his music on YouTube, Spotify, Google Play Music, Deezer and TuneIn.  

Well one of my favorite songs of him is called echo and I like a specific part that saysWhen my mind says I'm not good enough God, You're enough for me, yeah I've decided I'm not giving up 'Cause You won't give up on me You won't give up on meYour love is holding on and it won't let go I feel it breaking out like an echo Your love is holding on and it won't let go I feel it breaking out like an echo

This part gives me so much happiness because I know that I am not enough for such a great God, powerful majestic, etc but even so he loves us and the only thing he wants is for you to give him his heart.

 Royal Tailor was tha band that he was before.Eventually, life pointed in other directions. The guys began to marry and start families, and their perspective of life on the road changed. In 2015, the group parted ways to pursue individual interests.But Tauren feels he has unfinished business.In many ways, pursuing a solo career feels like a complete reboot. May 2016 saw the release of his first music in three years. The hard-hitting “Undefeated” featured Reach Records’ rapper KB and served as the soundtrack for the internet-famous Dude Perfect’s “World Records Edition” episode on YouTube, which garnered over 14 million views in just three weeks.It’s a taste of the unconventional approach he and his team are planning. “I want to be a pioneer for Christian music, but I’m not trying to be famous or be cool for the sake of being cool,” he explains. “I want to say something that impacts people.”Back home, Tauren and his wife, Lorna, have been quietly busy building a life around ministry and music. In addition to serving on staff at her father’s church in Houston (Royalwood), the two have launched a private music academy called Prisma Worship Arts School, which has expanded to two locations with 20 “Dream Coaches” and 100 students – in just two years.The couple also travels regularly to help churches develop worship teams and music programs.“We said this from the beginning: We are called to this,” he says. “I may be the artist that’s got the deal, but this is a family calling. We found our thing, which is Prisma. We pour into that together equally. Everything else we do, we’re also connected on.

” That commitment to family is part of the way, Tauren continues to rewrite the narrative of his life’s story.Coming from a broken home seemed like a set back for Tauren but ultimately was a setup for God to do what He does best; create beauty from brokenness.“My parents actually met acting and performing in musical theater. They may deny this now but they were both natural entertainers. My mom acts on occasion locally in my hometown. My Dad was really into music and we had all kinds of instruments, drums, keyboards, you name it, in our house. Looking back, I can’t believe he used to let me mess with all his stuff... I could’ve destroyed it at six or seven years old.”“It was actually my dad and ‘step’ mom’s (we don’t use that term) relationship that ultimately led to us making God and faith a real priority. I’m grateful for my blended family and I have strong with relationships with all four of my parents. God truly builds on what remains in our lives. 

As I plugged into church, that brought other really influential people into my life.”He benefitted from the presence and involvement of his uncle, who was also his youth pastor and worked at Tauren’s high school. He mentored Tauren, even helping him study John Maxwell books on leadership during his lunch period. Over time, Tauren became hooked on youth ministry and singing.“Seeing him doing ministry and all of that inspired me to think, That’s what I want to do,” Tauren says. “I spoke to our youth quite a bit. He helped me put ideas together. I’d always submit my messages to him, and he would walk through them with me. He showed me, ‘This is how you move on the stage. This is what you do with the mic. This is how you address the people in the room.

[viciousheart]

after  viviana  gets  her  memories  back,  she  decides  to  start  up  a  new  venture. 

because  the  horses  gabriel  got  for  her  helped  her  so  much  during  that  time,  she,  first  of  all,  made  sure  everyone  in  house  deluca  was  matched  with  their  perfect  horse.  

and  then  she  started  buying  more:  the  absolute  best  of  the  best  of  race  horses,  jumping  horses,  and  breeding  horses,  deciding  to  dip  her  toes  into  all  three  ventures.  before  long,  her  stables  were  full,  and  the  over  seven  hundred  acres  of  her  estate  were  made  into  an  indoor  jumping  ring,  an  outdoor  jumping  ring,  an  actual  race  track,  grazing  fields  and  training  fields.  

her  pet  project  is  called  VANITY  ROYAL  STABLES. 

so,  let’s  meet  some  of  the  horses! 

we’ll  start  with  the  family’s  own  horses: 

viviana,  herself,  has  three  horses  she  calls  her  own. 

JUPITER  the  first  horse  gabriel  bought  for  viviana.  gabriel  saw  him,  and  knew  right  away  that  this  was  a  horse  viviana  had  to  have.  i  mean,  come  on,  he’s  literally  golden!  JUPITER  is  stubborn  and  has  a  mind  of  his  own,  and  he  really  only  recognizes  viviana  as  someone  worthy  to  ride  him.  she  has  no  problem  handling  him,  but  no  one  else  can  seem  to.  he  takes  after  his  mistress  in  so  many  ways,  it’s  almost  like  he’s  the  equine  version  of  viviana  deluca.

SKY   (  named  for  the  colour  of  his  eyes  )   may  be  viviana’s  favourite  horse  right  now   (  but  don’t  tell  the  others!  )   he  caught  her  attention  with  his  striking  blue  eye,  and  he  kept  it  with  his  wonderful  personality.  he’s  not  as  stubborn  as  jupiter,  or  as  strong  willed  as  fioire.  he’s  calm,  and  he’s  sweet,  which  was  exactly  what  viviana  needed  while  she  had  none  of  her  memories.  she  just  needed  someone  to  be  there,  and  she  found  that  in  SKY.  he  never  pressured  her  or  judged  her.  he  didn’t  care  that  she  couldn’t  remember  a  thousand  years  of  her  life.  he  was  never  pushy  like  jupiter  could  be.  and  when  she  talked,  it  felt  like  he  actually  listened.  and  he  reminds  her  so  of  her  gallant.

and  as  a  present  for  her  nine  hundred  and  thirtieth  birthday,  gabriel  gave  viviana  a  white  horse.   (  with  a  spot  of  black  on  her  nose  )   a  horse,  she  would  late  come  to  find  out,  that  is  the  same  breed  as  her  first  ever  horse,  gallant.  and  viviana  said  that  the  horse,  who  she  named  FIOIRE,  which  means  blossom  in  italian,  immediately  reminded  her  of  gallant  because  of  her  curly  mane  and  tail. 

alyssandra’s  horse,  who  viviana  ironically  named  ROSA  while  her  memories  were  gone  also  turned  out  to  be  jupiter’s  mate.  together,  they’ve  already  had  two  foals,  one  of  which  went  on  to  earn  VANITY  ROYAL  STABLES  quite  a  bit  of  money  thanks  to  its  father’s  success  as  a  jumper.  the  other  foal,  the  first  one,  they’ve  kept  as  one  of  their  own,  and  he  shows  a  knack  for  jumping,  as  well.  every  chance  that  they  get  to  grab  jupiter  and  ROSA  and  head  out  for  a  ride,  they  take  it.  the  two  of  them  love  it,  and  the  horses  love  it,  as  well.  it’s  kind  of  like  a  double  -  date.

when  rowan  returned  home  after  viviana’s  recovery,  none  of  the  horses  gabriel  bought  seemed  to  connect  with  her.  all  of  them  seemed  to  like  her,  and  she  rode  rosa  most,  but  none  of  them  felt  like  hers,  and  so  viviana  made  it  her  mission  to  find  her  eldest  daughter  the  perfect  companion.  for  the  longest  time,  they  had  no  luck,  and  rowan  was  beginning  to  lose  hope.  but  then  she  and  viviana  met  the  charming   (  and  inseparable  )   team  of  DAKOTA  the  dalmatian,  and  LOLA  the  appaloosa.  and  while  viviana  is  not  a  big  fan  of  dogs,  she  could  see  the  instant  connection  rowan  had  with  both  animals,  and  so  they  both  came  home  with  them.  and  the  three  of  them  do  everything  together.

there's  two  reasons  stella  has  two  horses.  the  first  is  that  she’s  kind  of  a  horse  fanatic  like  her  momma,  and  the  second  is,  because  of  that,  she’s  very  in  to  equestrian  sports.

her  first  horse  is  one  that  gabriel  brought  home,  and  stella  just  thinks  she’s  the  best  horse  in  the  world.  her  name  is  VIOLA  and  she  is  gentle  and  sweet,  but  she’s  also  quite  old.  she’s  still  playful  and  strong  for  her  age,  but  she  can’t  do  the  jumps  or  trickriding,  so  stella  uses  her  for  trail  rides.  lots  of  trail  rides.  she’s  always  worried  she’s  ignoring  VIOLA  so  she  actually  gives  her  more  attention.

her  second,  athletic  horse  is  a  unique  beauty   (  and  personality  )   stella  named  TWISTER.  he  is  quite  the  character.  if  he  doesn’t  get  enough  time  doing  what  he  loves,  which  is  jumping,  he  starts  to  act  out.  first  of  all,  he’s  learned  how  to  open  his  stall  door.  so,  when  he  antsy,  he’ll  just  let  himself  out  of  his  stall. . .  and  then  he’ll  let  the  rest  of  the  horses  out  of  theirs,  too.  luckily,  he  hasn’t  figured  out  how  to  open  the  stable  doors,  but  he  does  know  how  to  get  into  the  food.  stella  has  to  keep  him  constantly  busy,  jump  him  every  single  day,  or  else  he  acts  out  and  her  moms  warn  her  that,  if  she  can’t  handle  such  a  high  -  maintenance  horse,  then  they  might  have  to  find  her  another  horse.  but  stella  loves  TWISTER  in  all  his  crazy,  whacky,  trouble  -  making  ways.  so  she  keeps  him  busy! 

the  next  horse  was  bought  by  VANITY  ROYAL  STABLES  because  of  his  striking  looks,  to  be  used  for  breeding  purposes.  but,  as  soon  as  he  got  there,  he  proved  to  be  a  little  too  much  for  anyone  to  handle.  he  would  attack  the  other  horses,  and  snap  at  any  person  that  tried  to  go  near  him.  he  was  stubborn  and  hot  -  headed,  temperamental  and  unpredictable  and  viviana  deemed  him  too  dangerous  to  keep.  but,  during  his  week  at  the  deluca  estate,  briar  had  been  keeping  a  close  eye  on  him.  something  about  him  called  out  to  her,  like  a  soul  that  needed  healing.  and  so,  when  viviana  announced  that  she  was  selling  him,  briar  went  out  to  the  stables  that  night  and  pulled  a  chair  up  in  front  of  his  stall.  and  she  just  sat  that  with  him.  all  night.  and  he  wasn’t  reactive  or  temperamental.  when  the  sun  came  up,  she  even  dared  feed  him  an  apple.  and  he  ate  it  out  of  her  hand  as  gently  as  any  other  horse.  so,  briar  marched  right  up  to  viviana’s  office  and  demanded   (  or,  rather,  she  asked  nicely  )   to  be  given  a  trial  -  period  with  the  horse  because  she  knew  there  was  a  wonderful  animal  beneath  the  surface,  and  she  was  going  to  prove  it.  it  took  a  bit  of  convincing,  but  viviana  agreed,  and  she  asked  her  what  she  was  going  to  name  him,  and  briar  said,  FAITH. 

gabriel  fought  tooth  and  nail,  paid  an  arm  and  a  leg  to  bring  home  a  horse  he  thought  viviana  would  love,  with  it’s  white  mane  and  black  coat.  he  thought  she’d  be  as  entranced  by  his  beauty  as  he  was,  and  while  she  agreed  that  the  horse  was,  indeed,  quite  beautiful,  she  felt  no  connection  with  him.  and  she  said  that  she  felt  no  connection  with  him,  but  she  thought  gabriel  might.  and  she  was  right.  so,  even  though  he’d  never  had  a  horse  before,  and  though  he  knew  little  of  them,  he  decided  to  keep  this  one  for  himself,  and  he  still  says  it’s  one  of  the  best  decisions  he’s  made.  he  named  the  horse  ATLAS,  and,  before  they  got  their  own  companions,  his  children  were  quite  taken  with  ATLAS,  and  as  for  ATLAS?  he  still  loves  the  entire  sharp  clan.  gabriel,  jenna,  and  the  kids. 

then  there’s  zachariah’s  horse  that  he  names  ROMAN  to  honour  his  roman  heritage.  zach  decided  to  join  gabriel  on  some  of  his  outings  to  buy  horses,  and  that’s  when  he  saw  the  unique  beauty  that  is ROMAN.  and,  it  turns  out  he’s  a  lot  like  his  mom  in  the  way  that  he  felt  a  special  connection  with this  horse  the  moment  he  met  him.  so,  even  though  he  had  to  pay  a  hand  and  foot  for  him,  he brought  roman  home  the  very  same  day.  and  ROMAN  immediately  became  best  friends  with  viviana’s favourite  horse,  sky.  they’re  practically  attached  at  the  hip,  which  makes  viviana  very  happy.  zach  and  viviana  now  have  a  bi  -   weekly  date:  every  other  sunday  they  take  ROMAN  and  sky  and  ride  out  to  watch  the  sun  rise  over  the  hills.  viviana  teases  that  he’s  getting  a  little  too  old  to  hang  out  with  his  mom,  but  he  never  disagrees  with  her.  she  looks  forward  to  their  ride  every  day  leading  up  to  it. 

aurelia  met  the  horse  she’d  come  to  name  WISTERIA,  and  that  was  it.  she  was  in  love. 

you  only  need  take  one  glance  at  CALLIOPE  to  know  she’s  a  stunning  horse.  and  she  has  a  rather  tender  personality,  too.  when  cass  first  met  her,  she  ate  an  apple  out  of  her  hand  and  then  nuzzled  her  nose  against  her  face  and  cassie  knew  she  had  to  have  this  horse.  she  was  perfect!  and,  besides,  her  name  was  cassie,  while  the  horse’s  name  was  CALLIE.  as  far  as  the  little  angel  was  concerned,  it  was  a  match  made  in  heaven.  but  then  they  got  her  home  and  there  was  some  turbulence.  while  she  was  great  with  her  on  the  ground,  when  cassie  tried  to  ride  her,  CALLIOPE  just  wouldn’t  cooperate.  viviana  said  that  the  horse  was  too  high  -  strung  for  a  beginner  like  cassie,  and  they  should  start  looking  for  another  horse,  but  cassie  already  adored  the  horse.  so,  stella,  who  knew  a  thing  or  two  about  dealing  with  high  -  strung  horses  from  dealing  with  twister,  volunteered  to  help  cassie  out  until  she  an  CALLIOPE  got  into  a  rhythm  and  learned  to  become  a  team. 

jase  loved  his  dad’s  horse,  atlas,  so  much  that,  for  his  birthday,  viviana  gets  him  a  pony  with  the  same  colouring  at  atlas.  and  the  little  boy  is  overjoyed.  he  wants  to  ride  the  pony,  that  he  calls  ROCKSTAR,  or  ROCKY  for  short,  all  of  the  time.  he  gets  his  parents  out  of  bed  so  he  can  go  ride  ROCKY.  and,  not  that  he’d  ever  say  it  to  anyone  but  jenna,  but  sometimes  gabriel  curses  viviana  for  this   “present.”   viviana  knows,  though.  she  thinks  it’s  all  hilarious.

OTHER  HORSES   /   @univurs  has  gotta  pick  out  horses  for  jenna  and  vienna  hfdjsk

the  next  two  horses  are  sisters,  and  twins,  in  fact,  they  were  born  to  some  horses  from  the  stables,  and  their  purchase  fell  through  so  viviana  decided  to  keep  them.   and  everyone  refers  to  them  as  the  twins.

[youngerdaniel]

2018: Another(nother) Year at the Movies

Worms and Germs, we have successfully spun round the sun again. And with that, as is tradition, it’s time to babble and reflect on the things I’ve watched that made an impression. Before we get to that, I must also advise that I’ve decided to remove one part of the tradition, and that’s the movies I liked the least. 

Life is too short to think about the things you didn’t like, and movies are a herculean that many people have worked on. As with any art, not every work will be to everyone’s taste. That’s what’s fun about movies. But that’s just my opinion.

At any rate, there’s quite enough negativity in the world these days. So welcome to 2019, and here’s some of the stuff I super dug in no particular order:

THROUGHBREDS

Everything about this movie charmed me. Economic storytelling at its finest, and a true gem about a couple of incredibly warped teenagers plotting to kill one’s step father. It’s dark. It’s funny. Despite its sparse nature, there’s a surprising amount of social commentary writhing beneath its surface.

BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE

In case this was somehow ever news… I adore Drew Goddard’s work. Following up his directorial debut of The Cabin in the Woods with a contained thriller about seven strangers, each hiding a secret, whose agendas collide at a kistchy hotel planted smack in the middle of the border between California and Nevada. 

This movie is the Drew Goddard show, and if you’re into it, you’ll love its deconstruction of Tarantino-flavored noir narratives. Stellar performances, unwavering personality, brilliant production design and cinematography… And it was shot in my old hood!

WIDOWS

From its opening scene, Widows grabs your attention and refuses to let go. This is the kind of all-women led heist movie that for years I’d unknowingly yearned for. The twists and turns are crafted in a style that is totally Gillian Flynn. The brutal swiftness of its final act is exhilarating. A slow burn in the best sense, and a delightful exercise in tension. A particular scene between Viola Davis and Cynthia Erivo comes to mind as the most riveting pair of eyelines I think I’ve ever seen. Really something special.

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

It hasn’t been since I first saw The Cabin in the Woods that a film’s third act took me so amazingly off-guard while absolutely earning it… And then there’s Sorry to Bother You. This movie is fucking great. A hilarious satire of class structure, racism and the failings of capitalism that never once feels like a lecture. The above comparison does nothing to describe this movie… I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before. Go forth and see for yourself.

HEREDITARY

This movie will punch you in the gut, then slam your head against a table repeatedly… Because it’s just that much fun. Well, fun might not be the proper word. Certainly not for the faint of heart. It’s a ruthless portrait of a family tipping over the edge of sanity. It also has a lot of super cool magic and is creepier than your grandma’s doll collection.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT

I like to think this is the movie equivalent of what cocaine must be like. Simple story, relentless pacing, spectacular action sequences. You know what you’re getting yourself into when you sit down to watch any installment of the M:I franchise: Tom Cruise running, pulling of absolutely batshit stunts that will surely kill him one of these times. Everything about this movie was fun, and also made my neck because of the tension. Lovely stuff. (The MOVIE, not cocaine.)

ANNIHILATION

I didn’t know what to expect from Alex Garland’s followup to the magnificent Ex Machina, but a group of scientists exploring a fragmenting reality caused by alien life? The crew is all women? It’s got a bear whose roar is the scream of whatever the last thing it was? SIGN. ME. UP. Some truly excellent performances, and the typically heavy and existential musings of its creator. Is the nature of everything to destroy itself? That’s up to you, and that’s what makes this movie such a treat.

SUSPIRIA

I will not spoil anything about this movie. What I will say is, it’s amazing. It’s not what you’re expecting. It may be based upon a classic, and it certainly has no business existing, but it is a cut of its own. Luca Guadagnino’s take on the story of a prestigious ballet school hiding a coven of witches is dense, with a smoldering pace and an overwhelmingly dreadful atmosphere. It’s rare these days to see a horror movie that takes its time and plays itself as a drama, and this one (as well as Hereditary) do just that. Also? It’s a surprisingly artful horror movie. Me likey. You should watchy.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (SPOILERS BELOW!)

What I love about this movie is what I’ve always loved about the Avengers saga — the gargantuan feat of simply pulling off this sprawling narrative is always a treat. 

The real genius was structuring the movie around its villain was the only way to pull together such a massive lineup of characters, and its conclusion, though devastating, is really inspiring from a filmmaking perspective. 

Marvel essentially pulled the biggest reversal in movie history, priming you for over ten years to expect the heroes to always win. Letting that grow to the point where most of us are complaining about it… And boom. We got the rug pulled out on us. 

The theatre I saw this one in sat in stunned silence as the credits rolled. And somehow, along the way, this tragedy was a lot of fun.

BLACK PANTHER

I loved this movie the moment it opened in Oakland in the 90s. Looking at Black Panther as a superhero movie isn’t giving the story its due. This is a story about what Africa might look like if it were never colonized, and follows an antagonist whose convictions about empowering the oppressed are convincing. It’s a movie about duty, not just to one’s kingdom, but to our fellow beings. It’s about community and progress. 

And yeah, it’s got a lot of awesome action sequences and has magic spirit trip herbs and people turning into big cats (but who am I to judge that?). It’s a fun ride, and a masterfully crafted film that easily stands alone from its cinematic universe.

A QUIET PLACE

High concept thrillers are coming back, and it’s awesome! Following real life supercouple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt as they struggle to keep their family safe in a world overrun by alien creatures who hunt using sound. If they hear you, the hunt you, and the worst (best) part is — the family’s just about to have a baby. Tense, inventive, and remarkably heartfelt. Let’s be real, though. We’ve all already seen this one. Watch it again!

MANDY

If Fallout was cocaine, then Mandy is acid, DMT, and everything you shouldn’t mix in one delightful, Nick-Cage-doing-the-Nick-Cagey goodness. I will not speak of the plot (though there is one!), and will instead say only this:

Chainsaw fight. But one of the chainsaws is like 10ft long and it’s lit like a 70s hippy den. Chomp on an edible, toss this one on, and prepare for a legitimate experience. An urban fantasy novel in movie form. Candy. Yeah, I know. I did it.

The sheer number of auteur visions that came out this year is promising. For a long time, people have said the spec script is dead, and the proliferation of big-budget franchises dominating the box office has a lot of people saying good movies are dying. 

I’m not so sure that’s true. 

Low budget and medium budget movies keep popping up, and this year’s global turmoil did exactly what a lot of us were saying it would do — it produced good art. 

As we move into the new year, let’s hope these new avenues for smaller movies continue to grow. The big movies have their place, and they’re not going anywhere, so we might as well enjoy what’s to enjoy about them.

Limitations almost always yield the kind of creativity that produces awesome art. I’m at a bit of a loss over how many movies hit the list this year. I hope it keeps growing.

[naomi-lafleur]

The First Date

A/n: Thanks @haidenschreave for rping the date with me! There are some mentions of @aileen-hollingsworth @baguette-le-chef @viola-smithin @tracie-beauchamp and some others. Also, I got the idea to draw the outfit for my date from @alexandra-amaria so thank you :D (Your drawing looks great by the way) Lastly, it’s currently 4:46 AM right now, so I’m tired af and the thoughts are kind of weird. SO ENJOYYYYYY :)

"Have you thought of anything yet, Lady Naomi?" asked Lavender, tidying the table.

"I have absolutely no idea," I said with a muffled voice, burying my face into the blanket. It was almost time for my first date with Prince Haiden. I couldn't help but feel these insecurities and doubts running through my head. What if I said something that offended him while I get caught up in my rambling? My head shot up. "Ooh! I thought of something! Where's the library, Eleanor?" I sprinted down the stairs to the first floor, where the royal library was. My jaw dropped. How could a library be this beautiful? I heard a soft humming that eventually died out. That was probably some staff from the other room. I went over to the closest shelf. "Palace Architecture: The Illéa Palace" Note to self: Come back over here and read every single one of these books... Snap out of it, Naomi! Go find what you were here for! I walked to the nearby table, where I found a book about space. As I crouched down to find another one, I bumped into someone. I turned around and saw Aileen jump in surprise. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! Here, I'll help you pick up your books," I said to apologize. "Oh, hey Naomi." There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. "It's okay," She said kneeling down to pick up the books. "So what brings you to the library?" I asked, trying to stir up a conversation. She glanced at the pile of books and then at the camera hanging around her neck. "Umm, I was kind of planning on taking pictures" "Oh I'm sorry for bothering you! I was just looking for a book about canoeing for my date, so I wanted to research about it. ," I responded, gesturing to a book. "It's no problem...wait, canoeing?" I laughed awkwardly. "Haha, yes, I was planning on canoeing and then stargazing so I wanted to research about it. Have you gone on your date yet?" I asked. "Um, not yet. In a few days though," Aileen answered. After chatting and getting to know each other, we went down to the kitchen to eat lunch. I was so excited to have Chef Baguette's Potato Gratin again. It was the best food I've ever eaten.

"Mmm oh my goodness, this food is amazing!"  I stuffed more potatoes into my mouth. "Chef Baguette is quite the artist indeed," Aileen said. "My mother would be so jealous! Haha she always wanted to try Chef Baguette's food," I added. "Really? Well if we last until the Elite, both our mothers will try his food," She responded as she laughed. After we finished eating, I went back to my room with my books about canoeing and astronomy. My maids rushed me into makeup. "We must get you ready now, miss. We only have-" She checked her watch. "-an hour before the prince gets here! Vite! Vite! Vite!" Aurora said. They put on a natural look and let my wavy hair fall to my shoulders. I picked out a gray sweater that went over my black and white, aztec patterned romper. I didn't need anything too formal because we would be sitting on a boat. I started to read my book about astronomy.

Twenty minutes went by quite quickly. I heard a knock on the door right on the dot. I opened it before any of my maids could get there. Here goes nothing. "Hi there! Are you ready for your date, Lady Naomi?" Haiden asked. "Hello Prince Haiden! Yes, I'm ready," I said in response. "Great. What would you like to do?" "I was planning for us to go canoeing at the lake and then stargazing when it gets darker." "Wow, uh, great idea! I'm not sure if I'm dressed for it though," he said, laughing awkwardly. "Oh no it's fine! We won't be going too far," I responded. OH NO ABORT MISSION! ABORT MISSION! WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT, NAOMI?! He seemed hesitant. "Uh, great. So are you an outdoorsy person?" You've already gotten eliminated. Did you see him hesitate?!? "Well yes, you could say that haha. I was planning to go stargazing tonight because I heard that we could see Jupiter to the visible eye. Do you like astronomy?" Be chill. Don't let him know how big of a astronomy nerd you are. You know you've been planning to go stargazing tonight for months, Naomi.

“Very much so, yes.”

Your one job was to not let this get awkward! You already failed!

“...Well, should we go now?” I asked.

“Uh, yes, definitely.” He offers me his arm and starts to head outside. “So tell me about yourself, Lady Naomi.”

“Hmm... well I'm an artist and photographer. I absolutely love painting.”

“What do you paint?”

This conversation is so boring. Is this how everyone else's date went? Or is it just me?

“I usually like painting stuff in nature. Back in Waverly, I would go on the roofs of some buildings and just draw,” I said.

I started getting flashbacks of those good old days. The wind would blow in my hair and the sun would make everything look better. They were great places to take photographs.

“That sounds amazing. Aren't you afraid of heights?”

“Hahaha I used to be terrified of heights, but I got over it after I saw how beautiful it is from up there. Are you afraid of anything?”

“Everything, Lady Naomi. Except heights. I find them comforting,” he answered.

Ahahaha so I guess he does have some personality. This'll get quite interesting.

“Yeah! I'm not sure what it is, but it makes me feel so relieving now. So, I heard you hate cats. How did this hatred start?”

How could someone have a phobia of cats? I mean, I love dogs, but what's so bad about cats?

“Oh, well, it's a long story.”

Well I guess I'm going to have to fish it out of him.

“Can you sum it up in a sentence?”

“Well, let's just say I found a stray cat and decided to give it a bath. I still have scars.”

I cringed. “Oh that sounds rough…. Anyways, tell me some of your hobbies,” I said, trying to change the topic.

“Well, astronomy, writing, music, and gymnastics.”

Wow, so straightforward. What am I supposed to say now?

We finally got to the lake.

“Wow, that's cool! I've always wanted to try out gymnastics, but I chose to do taekwondo instead.”

“That's crazy. I did the exact opposite. I've taken a lot of sports, but I've never been that good at most of them.”

“Well, at least you tried! I've only ever tried out taekwondo, but I've finally got my black belt!” I looked at the canoe that was sitting by the lake. “Do you mind sitting on the grass, Prince Haiden? We don't have to go on the canoe if you don't feel comfortable. I just really wanted to look at the stars tonight.”

“Sure. Do you look at stars often?”

“Yeah, I try to get out of the city once in awhile to watch them all night. I made sure to come out tonight because this is the first time I've ever been able to see Jupiter. It is absolutely stunning,” I said, gazing at the sky.

“I love studying it. It's definitely more beautiful up high.”

“So... how is it like being the prince? I'm curious.”

He probably gets the question everyday.

“It's… definitely very tiring, but it's worth it.”

“Do you ever wish you had another life?”

“I think all of us do at some point, but I know I'm very lucky to be in this position. Do you ever feel that way?” he asked.

“Yes, I've always felt that way when I was younger. Especially after my father passed away, but I would never want to change my life now….”

“I understand… Wow, this conversation got dark.”

“We should probably walk back now. So, what's something interesting about yourself?”

“I... I have no idea, honestly. My goth phase was probably the most interesting about me.”

“Oh my.” I laughed a little. “I wish I was there to witness that... Oh I have something interesting about me. Technically I'm only four years old.”

“Really? Leap year birthday?”

“Yep, my birthday is on February 29.”

“That's so weird to me.”

That you're going on a date with a four year old? 

“Ahahaha yeah, people always give me a weird look when I tell them that.”

“At least you can always get the kid's meals at restaurants.”

Now we're getting somewhere. His sense of humour is finally showing.

“I'll make sure to play in the ball pit as well then.”

“Young at heart and all?”

“Yes, I always act like a child in private.”

... it's true. 

“Favourite juice?”

“OJ, of course. It's the classic,” I said.

Orange juice is the bomb.

“Obviously. Favourite food?”

“Chicken fingers are the love of my life.... right after chocolate. If anyone says otherwise, they're lying.”

“Always a favourite. Favourite condiment?”

I'm in a predicament. I could lie and be like a normal person but…. Nah… You've never even been a normal person ever in your life, Naomi.

“My family calls me weird and don't tell anyone especially Chef Baguette... but I love relish.”

That man would rip my relish dreams apart.

“I love relish too!”

“I thought I was the only one!”

I've found my soulmate. Free relish for everyone at our wedding :’)

“It's amazing, honestly…. Can I ask you a question?”

“Oui.”

As you can tell, I'm obviously fluent in french… duh.

“What are you expecting of me during this competition?”

Oh no.

Sirens are flashing in my mind with yellow tapes saying “CAUTION! DO NOT INSULT THE PRINCE!”

“...Honestly, there's nothing that I really expect of you. I can't make you do anything and I won't. I'm just hoping that we could become friends if I am to be eliminated…. But oh boy. You should meet my sister though. She absolutely adores you.”

Good job avoiding an actual answer… not.

“Really?”

“Yes. She would kill me if she ever found out that I told you.”

He laughed. “Let me know when you send a letter to them next. I'll send her one.”

Wow, so smooth.

“She would probably scream so loud that we could hear it in Angeles if you did that.”

“Then I'd love to hear it”

“Oh, you're in a treat then.”

“Well, I definitely look forward to it, though I'm not sure if she'd be any match to my sisters. They definitely know how to scream…. That sounds kind of sadistic when I think about it, but uh, just ignore that.”

“Haha I guess we'll have to have a competition for the loudest shriek then.”

“I look forward to hearing it. Unfortunately, I think we should head back to the palace now, but I've had a longly time with you, he said.

“I really enjoyed our time together today. I'll make sure to hear that Shrek impression next time!” I responded, referring to what he said during my interview.

“I look forward to it,” he added.

We arrived at my room.

“I hope you had a good time as well. Goodnight, Prince Haiden.”

“Goodnight, Naomi,” he said, to end things off.”

As I closed the door, my three maids surrounded me.

“Hello, Lady Naomi! Did everything go well?” Eleanor asked eagerly.

“I might’ve messed up a bit…. But I thought it was fine,” I said, smiling.

“That’s alright. Oh, I almost forgot! There is a sleepover in Lady Viola's room and you have been invited!”

“Really?”

I heard Viola was really nice. I hope I can get to know her better.

“I'll just get dressed into some comfy clothes and then I'll head down there. I can take off all the makeup, so you guys can go tonight. I'll see you tomorrow morning! Thank you,” I said.

They all seemed hesitant to leave. 

Are they not allowed to leave me alone? Well, there was no point in staying if I was going to be in another room all night anyways.

After a minute of silence, they all eventually left me alone.

“Have a good night, Lady Naomi,” they all said at the same time.

I put on a tank top and a pair of pajama pants that was hiding in the back of my closet.

This’ll do

I asked a nearby guard where Lady Viola's room was. He escorted me up the stairs.

“Hey guys,” I said.

They all greeted me with smiles.

Well, I guess I interrupted a conversation.

We spent the next half hour playing truth or date until I finally fell asleep. I woke up to Tracie’s laughter an hour later. Hux, the butler, walked in with chocolate, wine, and chips. A few of the ladies started drinking.

Many of the royal family came to check in on us for a while including Princess Winter, Haiden, Eloise, Elaine, Ashton, and even Hux and Baguette. They started getting into a petty fight, which ended up in a break up.

Oh vey. Such drama Queens. They'll probably be back together by the morning.

A couple hours later, when everyone was pretty much drunk, we somehow got to the topic about fire. We decided to go out to the gardens and roast some marshmallows.

... Cressida, Berkeley, and I might have…. burned a bush.

It was pretty lit… literally. No biggie.

Mila tried so hard to reason with me, saying “I thought you were the responsible one!”

The following morning, I went back to my room, exhausted. There was relish sitting on my bedside table with a note that said “-Chef Baguette”

Who told?! Wow, much disrespect.

Immediately, I fell onto my bed and took a nap.

[jrgxjmnz]

Ascension by Bill Viola

I chose this video because of the simplicity. Like I have said before, simple forms of art, whether it’s a poem, a painting or even a video, speak to me a lot more. I feel it’s very difficult to grab ideas and depict certain things with our own eyes when there isn’t much to read or observe. However, I really love how much I imagined with this video art.

This video shows a human figure jumping into a body of water. The figure maintains their body in a cruciform. There is a royal blue light on the figure basically giving it a strong spotlight while they are floating. It sinks quite low from the surface of the water and begins to rise back up before the video ends.

I interpreted two specific things from this video which I will explain, but the first thing was how well the title depicted the video. According to Google, “Ascension” means “the ascent of Christ into heaven on the fortieth day after the Resurrection.” Although there is no day seen in the video, I still pictured Jesus Christ sinking and rising back up. When the figure falls into the water, it sinks representing death and before the video ends, the figure starts to rise. However, as far as humans know, no one has ever seen Christ resurrect and that is why the video ended before the figure’s head reached the top of the water. In addition, throughout the whole video, the human figure is in cruciform which also depicts the way Christ was crucified.

The second thing I observed from this video is that the title is the same word in Spanish. What came to mind was “ascensor” which means “elevator.” Obviously elevators, go up and down and we get to the floor we would like. I didn’t see the video in the way of “floors,” but more ourselves rising and sinking and have highs and lows in our personal lives. We step into the elevator which represents our life and the water in the video. We begin to go up right when we jump in the water because we are having beautiful and memorable times. But we always end up going down as well because not everything in life is beautiful, but it is memorable and it is an experience. We sink so low sometimes and we feel like we may drown, however, the rules of gravity makes us float and we rise above the water just like we rise above our low moments in life and continue with our heads held high.

I feel like this video art doesn’t challenge anything in any type of way because it has its own clear message that can be understood in many ways depending on the person watching it.

[swipestream]

In All Their Looks & Words: The Tomb Of Niankhkhnum And Khnumhotep Part 1

Engraving from the tomb of Niankhnum & Khnumhotep, taken from Flickr by user Kairoinfo4u and licensed through CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Our first history lesson comes from Ancient Egypt, and may possibly be the very first historical record of same-sex relationships. It’s important to remember that just because it’s the first record we have does not make it the first to exist. People have been loving people of the same sex for longer than history has been a thing. Someone deciding to write something down doesn’t mean it hadn’t existed before. That said, this lesson comes to us from the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, approximately 2400 BCE. It’s really old. It’s the tomb of Nianknkhnum  and Khnumhotep.

In 1964, Mounir Basta, an Egyptian archaeologist, opened a tomb in the Saqqara burial ground and discovered a unique display. Many tombs in the necropolis were burial chambers for prominent husband and wife couples and their families, but this tomb displayed two men in various displays, both holding an equal share of the scenery and often together in affectionate poses. After seeing the two men in intimate portraits, Basta’s argument was that these two men must be brothers, a father and son duo, or perhaps really good friends, because what other option could there be for such a loving duo? Just some best friends getting buried together in a room full of pictures of them holding each other, no big deal.

Engraving from the tomb of Niankhnum & Khnumhotep, taken from Flickr by user Kairoinfo4u and licensed through CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

It’s important to note that among the many scenes depicted on the walls of their tomb, and amid the various inscriptions in the tomb, not once is any mention of a biological relationship. What is contained on the walls is art which places the two men in various images that mimic scenes often used in husband/wife tombs from the same time period and geography. Decorations like a large statue of Nianknkhnum & Khnumhotep holding hands, dozens of images of them holding or supporting one another, and one scene where they enjoy the outdoors together, going fishing and bird hunting and sharing in daily activities. The most intimate of the images is at the entrance to their offering chamber, where they are shown nose to nose, kissing as their belt buckles touch, joining them at the waist. In some hieroglyphs, their names are joined in a wordplay that could suggest that they are now joined in death as they were in life. One inscription features a musician calling for a song about The Two Divine Brothers, possibly a reference to the myth of Horus and Set. Probably meant as a ribald reference to what was a rowdy tale about two male gods having a sexual encounter, this reference further supports the idea that Nianknkhnum & Khnumhotep were involved in a same-sex relationship with one another.

 The most intimate of the images is at the entrance to their offering chamber, where they are shown nose to nose, kissing as their belt buckles touch, joining them at the waist. 

Outside of what art survives the span of time, we don’t have much to go on for learning about these two men’s actual lives. They are listed in hieroglyphics as manicurists, hairdressers, and royal confidants. This means that they occupied a special position as one of very few people who could actually touch the Pharaoh. Tombs were extremely expensive, so the fact that these two shared one together meant that they were very powerful while alive. Both of their families were buried in the tomb with them, but the tomb was made specifically for these two. During the 4th through 6th dynasties, some experimentation was common with how tombs were displayed between husband and wife, speculation suggests that these two were able to take advantage of that experimentation to craft a lavish burial chamber for themselves.

Unfortunately, the theory of their relationship being one of desire between two men is still challenged within academia. Many scholars are hesitant to support a same-sex-affection reading of their tomb as the belief is that this interpretation may pull in a desire to read ancient culture in a modern lens. In other words, scholars think that a modern audience may try to pull in modern views on sexuality to artifacts that predate the idea of a “homosexual” by thousands of years. A challenge to that is being voiced by some that relationships between men and women in these artifacts are not expected to hold up to intense scrutiny. We just assume that men and women were involved romantically and sexually. Why must a relationship with two people of the same sex undergo such skepticism when the subjects in question follow the patterns of a different sex couple?

Use in your games

Knowing very little about both of these men may hamper your inclusion of them within your games, but there’s still many ways to incorporate them into some pretty popular RPGs out there. Thankfully we have a great number of words detailing their tomb, available online from many sources. It would take very little effort to overlay this floor plan on graph paper, jot down the art descriptions as some box text, and viola! Instant location to explore for your game. That’s probably not enough, though, so let’s look a little further.

Limestone relief from the tomb of Khnumhotep. Fifth Dynasty, about 2400 BC. From Saqqara. (British Museum)

If we are to take the hesitation of academia to embrace a same-sex reading of this tomb as a direct inspiration, we can play a little with what that does at the table. Investigative games like Gumshoe, Call of Cthulhu, or any campaign with detectives and high levels of roleplay would be good vehicles to delve into this. I’ve done some prep to come up with some locations, characters, and clues to build a conspiracy of an archaeologist trying to stem back this kind of reading and this prep will be included in the next installment of this series.

If you wanted to put the romance between these two men in the forefront, you might want to look at games that play with emotions & relationships. A common trope that could be useful here is that of parted lovers trying, or having struggles with trying, to reunite. In a romance setting that may mean a modern approach with Nianknkhnum & Khnumhotep as young men in a school setting. I’ve laid out some prep for Monsterhearts that could be applicable to other PbtA games as well. The new edition of Monsterhearts slimmed down prep but I still enjoy drafting up Menaces & Threats, so there’ll be a couple to be found in the next article.

Finally, if you’re just looking to smash & grab in a dungeon crawl, but at the same time introduce some cool historical context, you can use the burial chambers as a dungeon setting. I’ve prepped a Dungeon Starter for Dungeon World below as well.

As with anything historical in your games, it’s important to do some research before you hit the table, especially if you’re looking to address the subject material respectfully. Let this be the first article you read, and seek out other sources as well. Greg Reeder is an archaeologist who has written about the tomb and presented about these two men, I would suggest at least briefly glancing at his work. Most sources reference his work to some degree. I’ll provide some further reading opportunities below.

One other thing to think about is the context of same-sex desire in ancient cultures. I’ve deliberately not used the word “gay” to address the relationship between these two men. Homosexuality as it’s thought of in a modern construction is still a recent development. People even a couple centuries back did not define or express non-normative sexuality or orientations the same way we do today and it becomes a grey area when using modern speech to talk about ancient cultures. Ancient Egypt almost assuredly had a different view of same-sex desire than we do now.

It’s important to do some research before you hit the table, especially if you’re looking to address the subject material respectfully.

Cultural relativity also becomes important because if we start to project modern ideas of sexuality onto the past it becomes easy to connect stereotypes or caricatures onto history. In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Reeder expressed some hesitations with giving a modern audience some historical information, saying “people laugh when you say manicurists.” A stereotype of many gay men, especially of men of color, is one of a grooming confidant, but that’s only a superficial modern take on what these two men were. It will be vital to respectfully address their position within the royal structure and the important role they played in court without engaging in harmful modern stereotypes. In addition, the western lens on ancient Egypt is fraught with exotification. Avoid the “jewel of the desert” stereotypes, the best way to do this is with research and context. Challenge some of the mythology we’re fed as westerners and look for papers or histories written by Egyptians about their own history.

Check the next installment for the game prep deliverables I promised above!

In All Their Looks & Words: The Tomb Of Niankhkhnum And Khnumhotep Part 1 published first on http://ift.tt/2zdiasi