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thechanelmuse · 4 years ago

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TW: rape

‘I May Destroy You,’ Michaela Coel’s gimlet-eyed exploration of trauma and its myriad ripple effects follows Arabella (Coel) — a funny, messy, sharp-as-hell London writer — after a dizzying night in which she’s drugged and raped by a stranger. At first, she dismisses the hazy memory as just an upsetting image in her head. Soon enough, though, Arabella reluctantly comes to understand it as the truth, and tries to work through that horrifying reality without coming apart. [...]

Not every part of Arabella has a direct line to Coel, but the series’ catalyzing experience, unfortunately, does. In 2016, Coel took a break from a marathon writing session for the second season of “Chewing Gum” to grab a drink with a friend, and was drugged and assaulted by a stranger. She’s been sifting through the emotional wreckage ever since to find some kind of clarity, if not peace. Now, with “I May Destroy You,” she’s doing it for all the world to see. “As a fellow android exploring what it means to be human,” says Coel’s friend Janelle Monáe, “watching Michaela be vulnerable on-screen as she walks in her truth gives me and so many the bravery to walk in ours.” [...]

Coel began writing “I May Destroy You” in February 2017, in between acting in TV projects like the “USS Callister” episode of “Black Mirror” and Netflix’s limited series “Black Earth Rising.” She took solo mountain trips and wrote draft after draft of what would eventually become “I May Destroy You,” spilling her stories and tangled guts onto the page, rearranging them into shapes she could better recognize. In August 2018, she spoke about her trauma publicly while delivering the Edinburgh International Television Festival’s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, a prestigious assignment the festival has otherwise bestowed on a cadre of white British television mainstays (as well as no fewer than three Murdochs).

The majority of Coel’s speech, delivered to a room of the U.K.’s most powerful entertainment brokers, traced the constant racism and classism she endured on the way to that Edinburgh stage — a theme subtextually underlined by the fact that Coel was, and remains, the only Black woman to have that platform. She spoke about turning her solo play “Chewing Gum Dreams” into a “Chewing Gum” TV series (which aired 2015-17 on the U.K.’s Channel 4), a transformative time that taught her the technicalities of making television and confirmed just how disinclined certain white gatekeepers are to trust a poorer Black woman’s vision. Toward the end of the 50-minute lecture, Coel revealed her assault and elucidated the industry’s inability — or unwillingness — to handle such a human emergency when pages are due. As for her recovery, she said, “It’s been therapeutic to write about it, and actively twist a narrative of pain into something with more hope, and even humor.”

When it finally came time to translate it all to the screen, “I May Destroy You” was so close to her bruised heart that Coel took on the challenge of playing several roles throughout the series’ development: creator, writer, actor, producer, director. Netflix offered her a total fee of a cool $1 million to make and star in the show, but the proposed contract wouldn’t grant Coel even a tiny percentage of the rights. She hadn’t fully realized how much claiming legal proprietorship over her work mattered to her until the prospect of not being able to emerged, at which point it became crucial.

Then, after some Googling, she realized that her CAA agents would also be profiting from the deal via the endangered practice of packaging. Stung and surprised, Coel walked away from both her agents and the offer. “I’m not anti-Netflix,” she’s quick to say now, “but I am pro-‘the creator, writer, director, actor should probably have a right.’” She’s hyper-aware of how much this project required of her, and how comparatively little granting her “a right” might cost a powerful network like Netflix. “That’s not quite fair, is it?” Coel muses. Creating the show, after all, took almost everything she had.

With the BBC, a million-dollar paycheck might not have been in the cards, but more important to Coel, she didn’t have to fight half as hard to claim ownership. (As a matter of industry course, it’s far more common for British studios to afford creators rights to their work than it is for American equivalents.) They struck a deal, and Coel got to work.[...]

“When you’re restricted,” she explains, “sometimes that’s where you find great things: in the lack of possibility.” She attributes this rather Zen approach to Hugo Blick, the “Black Earth Rising” showrunner who showed her the value of keeping a cool, empathetic head on set. Blick’s ability to step away from a gnarly situation for even 30 calming seconds is one that Coel has worked to hone for herself, especially while steering a series with such fraught ties to her history. No matter how sideways things might go, she never wants to forget just how much she loves the collaborative act of building a television show, wild complications and all.

From Forbes:

I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel Rejected Netflix’s $1 Million Offer In Favor Of The BBC Because Of Ownership

The creative, who stars as Arabella and wrote all 12 episodes, started pitching the programme in the spring of 2017 with one of her first ports of call being Netflix who picked up her prior series Chewing Gum.

Though Netflix offered a generous upfront fee of $1 million (£800,000), the sum had strings attached, including full rights ownership away from the creator, something Coel pushed back against. Coel recalls a moment during the interview where she is speaking with a Netflix development executive on the phone, asking if she could retain even a very small 0.5% of the copyright to her show.

“There was just silence on the phone. And she said, ‘It’s not how we do things here. Nobody does that, it’s not a big deal,’” Coel recollected. “I said, ‘If it’s not a big deal, then I’d really like to have 5 % of my rights,’” Coel added, stating that she even went down to 2%, and then 1% and even as a final compromise to 0.5%.

Coel remembers that the executive said she would have to run it passed her superiors, before adding, “‘Michaela? I just want you to know I’m really proud of you. You’re doing the right thing.'”

“I remember thinking, I’ve been going down rabbit holes in my head, like people thinking I’m paranoid, I’m acting sketchy, I’m killing off all my agents,” Coel says. “And then she said those words to me, and I finally realized — I’m not crazy. This is crazy.”

Coel discovered her agents, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) were set to make an undisclosed amount from the series if she took the deal with Netflix. She reveals that the agency pushed her to take the deal prior to her finding out and their subsequent dismissal as her U.S. representation.

Taking the project to British broadcaster the BBC later in 2017, Coel found the corporation to be supportive with her maintaining creative control even with the explicit depictions of sex, sexual assault and drug use. Plus, as the broadcaster had to adhere to terms of trade, Coel had no problem with retaining the rights also. The broadcaster also brought HBO to the table as another co-producer to help subsidise a portion of the budget.

This isn’t about just “knowing your worth;” it’s about knowing the business (your business) and never settling just to secure “something.” A million dollar offer, no copyright ownership and no creative control is beyond disrespectful. Learn the business in whatever field you’re in and stay acclimated with jargon and new, current and old practices. Know your shit.

It’s like when people say “Get a lawyer” to handle negotiations and look over your paperwork. You pay a lawyer to do a job, but it does not mean you should be oblivious to aspects of law and contract jargon among other things because “that’s what they’re there to do.” You can’t say someone (sometimes lawyers included) screwed you over after you’ve signed the dotted line. They’re protecting and looking out for themselves. Commit to do the same for yourself.

#michaela coel #i may destroy you #film business #ownership #hbo #bbc #netflix #business

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zkfanworkweek · 4 years ago

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ZFAW Fan Content Creator Interviews: HayleyNFoster

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

For the second interview in this cycle, we have our best propaganda creator and this fandom’s hottest new artist/undisputed queen of the animatic, @hayleynfoster!

1. Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you?

When I was around 14 or 15 and caught Avatar: The Last Airbender on television, I was drawn in by the art style, the humor, and the wonderful characters. I caught the episodes out of order, and the first one I saw and wasn’t prepared to be sucked in by was The Waterbending Scroll. It intrigued me at that age, and the line “I’ll save you from the pirates” combined with the tension between Katara and Zuko in that whole scene was electrifying. I remember my teenage self thinking these two have so much chemistry! And when I saw a commercial on Nickelodeon that featured fanart submitted by fellow Avatar fans, I realized that I could do that to! So I set about making Zutara fanart for myself. I stumbled onto Youtube, practically in its infancy, and discovered that people set clips of Zuko and Katara set to music (And this was still in season 1 days… so people who made these amvs were the real mvps because they were able to make compelling narratives in their amvs with like practically nothing to work with!). The AMVs really spurred my interest in this couple, I remember distinctly one Zutara AMV using the Dido song White Flag utterly capturing my imagination. I found fandom shortly after, getting into deviantart and forums. But the ship really began to mean something to me when, as I was working on my drawings in the computer lab at school, a buoyant presence hovered over my shoulder noticing my Zutara art on the computer screen. The girl was someone I had never really talked to and had only seen from afar but she immediately started excitedly saying she shipped Zuko and Katara too! In this simple shared obsession, I made one of the best friends I’ve ever had and we’re still friends to this day. We would theorize and fangirl over Avatar like it was nobody’s business; we poured over bootleg San Diego Comic Con footage that showed spoilers for season 2 before it aired; we lost our freaking minds when we finally saw The Crossroads of Destiny. We had watch parties every week as Season 3 of A:TLA aired, and comforted each other when the show ended as it did (much ranting was shared). Those are some of my happiest memories from high school… all because this one pairing from this wonderful show. Even though Zutara didn’t happen, we still chat every now and then about it. Zutara will probably be a lifelong obsession, always bubbling under the surface. And without it, I would have never realized that animation was a viable career path. It really did inspire everything including the work I’m doing to this day in the animation industry. I owe a lot to this ship and to Avatar: the Last Airbender.

2. What inspires you to create zutara fanworks?

The resurgence of Avatar: The Last Airbender this year really helped sort of spark that dormant love I had for Zutara. The show’s ending still disappointed me on the rewatch, but Zuko and Katara’s relationship arc was as captivating as ever, so I turned to some fanfiction and looking at people’s pretty Zutara art and AMVs to just revel in fanon instead of getting to hung up on the actual ending of the show. But then I realized, with quarantine and my work load being pretty light, I had time to actually make all new Zutara art for myself, art I was never fully capable of making as a kid, but now could do with my 7 years of industry experience and just… life experience. And I was inspired to do some corrective animatics to satisfy my own desire for a different ending. I just really like exploring these two characters, doing different and interesting things with them, and frankly I’m inspired to make cute, fluffy, romantic art simply by virtue of living in a really sad and depressing world. Things are so crazy right now, creating art about two characters I love being in love, is comforting. And it helps to have inspiring music and amazing Zutara amvs to just sort of stir up my emotions and imagery in my head to make into animatics and art.

3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create?

Ohhhh… Well, It’s always nice to have people write fanfiction that puts words to my animatics. I am not that great at coming up with dialog myself, so I’ve just chosen to indulge in visuals and emotions for my boards. But when I read things like RideBoldlyRide’s take on my Reunion Animatic, it makes me pretty giddy. (They finally have voices!) :) And this is the MOST selfish thing I could request, but I’m not shy about saying how much I love well done amvs, so I will literally kill for someone to make Zutara AMVs to songs I like… Like, most of AURORA’s songs but especially Exist for Love, Sunseeker by The Naked and Famous, Promises or Take Me by Aly & AJ, Adore You by Harry Styles, Human Enough by ONR, Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine, and/or Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier just… I can see the AMVs so clearly to any of these songs in my head, but I don’t have the tools or skill set at my disposal to make a compelling fan video. When I was in high school, I originally thought I wanted to go into video editing simply because I loved making very crappy AMVs (they were so bad you guys), but I figured out being a storyboard artist was more in my wheelhouse. haha

4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time?

If you’re new to the Zutara fandom, just have a good time! Don’t waste too much time arguing with people over your shipping preferences. I wasted so much of my teen years having pointless shipping wars with people on DeviantArt, and I’m just so much happier nowadays because I’m just making Zutara art in my little corner of the internet, and honestly, in the politest of ways, I don’t give a shit if people don’t like my art or Zutara. haha I think that’s sort of a key thing for people thinking of posting creative works here in the fandom, just make art for yourself, satisfy your own desires for the pairing, get your creative sparks flying, and create just for the joy of creating. It’s always nice to get comments and such, but simply making the art should be what spurs you on, not the external validation. And have a good time, don’t worry too much - I say as someone who worries about EVERYTHING. But honestly, making art for A:TLA is some of the most relaxed I’ve been because I make it just for me. I’m lucky others seem to like it too!

5. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven't gotten around to making?

I have an idea for a second generation storyline with my Zutara kids that involves Kya (the eldest firebending daughter) falling in love with an airbender boy (tentatively named Gora in my headcanon who’s a bit of a rabble rouser and one of Aang’s kids he had with a Kyoshi Warrior), and then they start a socialist revolution in the Fire Nation in order to dismantle all of the hierarchical societies across the Avatar world… Together Kya and Gora Fan the Flames of revolution… ehhhhh... Get it?? Oh! Oh, and then Katara, who had put in legit liberal reforms in her time as Fire Lady listens to her daughter after resisting in the first part of the story, but then realizes she can actually play a part in the dissolution of the royalty and is also active in the revolution realizing that moderate liberal reforms are no substitute for a society free of serving royalty (which she had always been uncomfortable with but had rationalized with herself that she was doing good in her capacity as Fire Lady.) I just feel like there’s a lot of cool potential for discussing these ideas and also having some aspirational change in the Avatar world. lol For aesthetics and just happy fluffy times, I can indulge in Fire Lady and Fire Lord Zuko stuff, but really at the end of the day, I take issue with the structures in a society that have to exist for monarchies to exist. Soooo, I kind of want to do my own corrective story for that… if I ever have the time or guts. On a less ambitious note, I would love to do a Zutara sparring animatic to practice doing action, but I need a good story; I am not good at doing fights just for fighting’s sake. Those are just some things I have rattling around in my head.

6. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so want to give us a hint as to your plans?

Yes! The most I can say is I have one animatic almost finished and one that’s still being thumbnailed. The rest are probably going to be comics or emotive single pieces based on the fanfics I really like right now. :)

#interviews #zutara fanworks appreciation week #zfaw #hayleynfoster #zutara

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popatochisssp · 4 years ago

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if/when you get the energy/time to- im really curious; what kinda fuzzy friends do the newer skeles have? does pitch have a seeing eye-dog version of princess? or does ell and/or nemo have a fuzzy buddy to help with their anxiety or anything similar or in-between? spare fuzzy friend hcs for the poor, ma'am????

Well, you asked for it!

Ash (Undergloom Sans): A cat named Annie (Ragdoll), adopted as an emotional support buddy! She picked him, really, just ambling right on up to him, and it was love at first flop-over-his feet. Having a little sweetheart like her to take care of has really helped to pull Ash out of the doldrums and he loves her a lot. She’s a big-time cuddlebug, just like he is, and they definitely spend a ton of time napping together, everywhere and anywhere.

Annie’s Quirks: Extra chunky (master of the ‘I haven’t been fed yet 🥺’ con), stockpiles socks and undies beneath the bed, shameless catnip junkie

Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus): He feels like he’s not as active as he should be, lots of time spent indoors doing academic things, when there’s a whole beautiful world out there that he should be getting out to see at least sometimes... He has the idea that maybe an animal companion would be the right motivation to get up and out at least a couple times a day, and Cannoli (Pembroke Welsh Corgi) is the solution to the problem! They click pretty much immediately and are just very well-suited to each other, especially as exercise partners.

Cannoli’s Quirks: Loves (short) walks, rests his head on any feet that stay still long enough, must sleep in the same bed as the people and will hop/bark/cry if he can’t get up there himself

Brick (Horrorfell Sans):He doesn’t know too much of the story himself, he’s sure he was told in more detail but probably forgot. All he remembers is, a friend of a friend had a dog who had an accident...or maybe it got sick? Either way, it went deaf, and the dog was too big and unwieldy for them to try to retrain themselves. But they had a friend who was HoH, and that friend was active in the community with lots of other signing and HoH folks and could ask around about someone who might be up for the challenge of having and training a real big dog that couldn’t hear a word you said to it. That’s how Brick heard about it, anyway, and he’s not deaf but he’s big, and he figures he probably knows at least enough sign by now to train a dog. And that’s how Tiny (English Mastiff) comes to stay at his place. They clumsily work on understanding each other, it’s definitely a Process, but there’s plenty of fondness there to make any difficulty worth the trouble.

Tiny’s Quirks: Bit of a digging problem, gets very excited about balloons, likes to sit near people and lean his entire weight into them

King (Horrorfell Papyrus): This one may look familiar, but it’s fate-- Doomfanger (Persian) belongs with him and could find her way to him in any universe. ...But King was a little later getting to the Surface, and wasn’t there to pick her up when she was freshly on the streets. She spent awhile longer being an alleycat, a few years of living the rough life, and one day when she’s not quite fast enough to scurry out of the way of an oncoming car, it probably would’ve been the end for her... if not for the kind Samaritan skeleton who was just passing by that scooped her up off the pavement and brought her to a vet. King tried very hard not to get attached to her, especially when it was still looking like she wouldn’t make it, but he kept moving the goalpost of when he’d let himself care about her. ‘IF IT LIVES UNTIL MORNING,’ ‘IF IT MAKES IT TO THE VET,’ ‘IF SHE SURVIVES HER SURGERY,’ ‘IF--’ and then she looks at him, with her goofy drugged up face, freshly missing the foot of her back paw so that they even match now, and... And just like that, Doomfanger has a home and a devoted cat-dad owner and anything else she could possibly need.

Doomfanger’s Quirks: Likes to be raked, makes an incredible fuss when shut out of any room for any reason, very spooked by loud noises and immediately runs and hides under daddy’s bed

Merc (Horrorswap Sans): He wanted a pet, especially when things were still a little strained with his brother and the nature of his...condition...made it difficult to make friends. He was lonely and a little pal would be very welcome in his home, but he’d also really hate to curse a furry friend with the ever-present threat of being dripped on and getting nasty bone-goop stuck in their fur... Ella (Sphynx) is the workaround to this unusual problem and makes herself right at home with Merc, happy to love on him whether he’s solid or sticky.

Ella’s Quirks: Has an extensive collection of sweaters that she adores (will sit by her dresser and meow until she is clothed), great sense for emotions and tends to appear whenever she’s needed, transfixed by mirrors

Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus): He didn’t choose Ripley (Maine Coon), Ripley... well, he’s not even sure Ripley chose him. He definitely chose Ella, because that pretty little sweater-wearing vixen in the window is what drove him to bust into Ell and Merc’s house and start sauntering around like he owned the place. Ripley (named before they realized he was a boy-cat) was definitely feral, with a notched ear and a missing eye, but he just keeps coming around, breaking and entering, cuddling with Ella and sharing her food, and when he one day hops into Ell’s lap and curls his big fluffy body up there... Ell makes the (possibly bad) decision to just shut the doors and windows on this mean, fat bastard and make him commit to the self-domestication he’d started. Ripley’s fickle, anti-social, and nine times out of ten mean as hell, but despite it all, Ell’s attached to the fucker. Doesn’t stop him from talking mad shit about his demon-cat to anyone who’ll listen, but y’know, there’s a weird sort of love there, between them both.

Ripley’s Quirks: Hates other cats and people, with Ell and Ella as the only exceptions (Ell sometimes, Ella always), does truly heinous things to birds and rodents and even bugs if the opportunity presents itself, an escape artist who is not to be trusted around doors or windows

Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans): Ms. Sandy Peaches (Golden Retriever) is a service dog, trained to assist people with visual impairments in a variety of tasks. Pitch, who’d long been mulling over the idea of getting one such dog, eventually follows through, and as soon as he hears her name, he’s decided-- Sandy Peaches is the one for him! He’s been blind awhile by the time he gets her and generally knows his way around things, but she’s very helpful in his day-to-day and some of the things that were moderately inconvenient to get through before are only mildly inconvenient now, and her value as a helper and a companion is much appreciated.

Sandy’s Quirks: Gets excited when it’s time to put her vest on and go work, thinks the appropriate amount of brushing time is probably about three hours, loves to go swimming

Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus): He found Dizzy (American Shorthair) after an accidental click led him to a local shelter’s Instagram, where they had a video of her playing and a few hashtags that explained her condition. He learned a lot about cerebellar hypoplasia, aka ‘wobbly cat syndrome,’ and when he eventually made it back to her video and watched it again... it was too late, he was already half in love with her. He contacts the shelter and after a couple weeks making arrangements, purchasing necessities, and wobbly-cat-proofing the house, he braves the outdoors to go get her and bring her home. She’s probably 100% his baby within the first hour and he loves being able to take care of her and help a kitty that not everybody would have the time or dedication to take in. The love is very much mutual and Dizzy’s tail does the ‘omg it’s you, I love you!’ tail-quiver whenever she sees him and trots on over.

Dizzy’s Quirks: Sixth sense for when there’s clean laundry to be laid on, likes to hold extended warbling and yowling conversations with people, chews on anything that crinkles (keep plastic wrappers out of reach!)

Sunny (Gastertale Sans): As soon as he knew he wanted a dog, he knew he wanted to pick up one of the less adoptable ones. Skipper (Beagle mutt) was certainly that, with only two legs--one in front and one in back. Sunny had a play session with the little guy and admired his energy and how enthusiastically he played, like his missing legs didn’t even phase him. Whatever happened in Skipper’s past, he’s not letting it be his problem now, and needless to say, he’s adopted and taken home in pretty short order. No holds barred fetch and spontaneous frolicking in open fields are a great bonding activity for these two, probably a match made in heaven.

Skipper’s Quirks: Tennis ball fiend (literally can never have enough), chews on unattended shoes, loves to sing (read: howl) along to music

Aster (Gastertale Papyrus): He wanted a guard dog, some big intimidating-looking thing that would look really, really cool guard the house. He finds Ace (Doberman/Great Dane), unfortunately with his ears already cropped (Aster wouldn’t have chosen the procedure himself), but otherwise a very handsome fellow and still definitely in need of love and a home, both of which Aster was willing and able to provide. He’s attentive with all the care and training his new pup needs, and when Ace grows up just as huge as predicted, looking like a cross between a panther and a hellhound, he’s become an extremely well-mannered and obedient dog, full to the tips of his pointy ears with love for Aster.

Ace’s Quirks: King of naps, the worst nightmare of any strangers at the door (but very affectionate and loving once they’re in!), will tell you if you’ve stopped petting him too soon, boofing and trying to put your hand back to make you resume

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underachievers-please-try-harder · 3 years ago

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Interview // Clairo

For The Guardian. Read online.

Exuding all the effusive pride of a new parent, Claire Cottrill is showing me photos of Joanie, her rescue dog and the muse for her forthcoming album, Sling. “She’s actually really bossy,” the Massachusetts-raised artist better known as Clairo chuckles over Zoom, holding her phone close to the laptop screen so I can see the Instagram post more clearly. “But she’s so funny. We have such a special bond.”

According to a DNA test, the sandy-furred pup is mostly chow chow and great pyrenees, with a little bit of boxer and lab in the mix, which accounts for the fact she has tripled in size in the six-and-a-bit months since her adoption. “She was a little wolf baby; a peanut!” the 22-year-old singer-songwriter exclaims, mooning nostalgically over one particular image depicting the then seven-week-old puppy peeking out of some bushes.

Dog ownership might have become quite the ultimate lockdown cliche, but for Cottrill committing to a pet represented a rare opportunity to lay down some roots. Certainly, pre-pandemic she hadn’t had much chance to pursue a life of quiet domesticity; not since the autumn of 2018 at least, when the lo-fi bedroom pop of Pretty Girl went viral, just weeks after she started college in Syracuse.

Its winningly DIY video racked up more than 1.5m YouTube views pretty much overnight (it now stands at almost 75m), and Cottrill was heralded as a vital new voice, and part of a wave of creatively autonomous, emotionally articulate Gen Z artists, alongside the likes of Billie Eilish and Rex Orange County.

Cottrill’s rapid rise – not to mention her signing with the Fader label and Chance the Rapper’s management team – was not without controversy. A small but vocal subset on Reddit circulated the rumour that Cottrill was an “industry plant”, a conclusion they arrived at following their discovery that her father Geoff was previously chief marketing officer at Converse and co-founder of its affiliated recording studio Rubber Tracks. She has recently addressed the allegations directly, telling Rolling Stone, “I definitely am not blind to the fact that things have been easier for me.”

Largely though, Cottrill has sought to prove her detractors wrong through the quality of her compositions. First came Diary 001, an esoteric, six-track set mining skeletal hip-hop and the wipe-clean grooves of PC Music-inspired pop. That was followed in August 2019 by Immunity, the full-length debut she co-produced with ex-Vampire Weekend man Rostam Batmanglij. More revelatory than Diary 001, it detailed a suicide attempt (Alewife) and her struggles with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (I Wouldn’t Ask You) with striking candour. Sonically, it paired tender, electronics-tinged introspection with swooning guitar-pop. Sofia, which now boasts 280m streams on Spotify, catapulted Cottrill into another league of fame entirely, leading to collaborations with Charli XCX, Mura Masa and Arlo Parks, plus arena tours in support of Khalid and Tame Impala.

Cottrill was busy with the latter when Covid hit the US. On hearing the news, she headed straight to Atlanta, Georgia, to see out lockdown with family, a period of isolation originally scheduled to last a fortnight but which went on for eight months.

Just how intense was it spending the best part of a year holed up with her parents? “It was awesome,” she insists, now back at the Brooklyn apartment she shares with fellow musicians and former college pals Claud and Josh Mehling. “My older sister came home as well. And I found it interesting that no matter how much you’ve progressed as an adult in your own life, the family roles revert back to exactly how it was as a kid.”

First and foremost, enforced confinement provided the opportunity for Cottrill to deepen her relationship with her mother.

“The conversations I had with my mom about motherhood, and the things she sacrificed for us, are really important to me,” she says. “Also, it’s like you don’t actually know who your mother is before she’s Mom, before she’s Wife, because there isn’t a huge documentation of who she was as an individual. And I realised that I might be in the period of my life now where I’m in my individual phase: before I am Mom, before I am Wife, or whatever I end up being. It was a bit scary to recognise that I could eventually have a family, and then this whole identity that I’ve had on my own for a long time can, in some ways, disappear.”

These existential ideas form the basis of Cottrill’s much-anticipated second album. Recorded in the autumn of 2020 at Allaire Studios – situated on a mountain top in upstate New York – Sling finds Jack Antonoff co-producing. Perhaps more significantly, the record also features backing vocals from Lorde – on Reaper as well as the lead single Blouse – an alliance that led to Cottrill returning the favour on the New Zealander’s latest, Solar Power.

“I met Lorde [when I was] on FaceTime with Jack,” she says of the link-up. “He was like: ‘Hey, I’m with a friend, can we say hi?’, and it was Lorde. And I freaked out, of course, but she’s the nicest person ever.

“We talked a lot about how cool it was in the Laurel Canyon era, where people would secretly do background vocals on each other’s music – like Joni Mitchell with Carole King – rather than as a way to benefit the business side of things. Back then it was just like: ‘I love your voice: will you lend your talent to my song?’ So that’s what I asked her, and I was just lucky enough that she wanted me on hers as well.”

The legacy of Laurel Canyon looms over Sling, which swaps the sparse electronic flourishes of Immunity for lush, acoustic folk, often embellished with swooning vocal harmonies, delicate strings and the warm swell of brass. Reference points for the record included Hejira-era Mitchell, the Carpenters and Harry Nilsson, alongside less obvious touchpoints, such as cult jazz musician Blossom Dearie. Most influential, perhaps, was Innocence & Despair by the Langley Schools Music Project, which features a choir of 1970s school kids covering hits of the day, and has since been hailed as a significant piece of outsider art.

“To me, that record merged my two worlds for Sling,” Cottrill explains. “I wanted that warm 70s feeling, but also I was thinking so much about kids, and especially the clumsy, sweet kid that Joanie embodies.”

There is a darker side to the record too, as Cottrill grapples with the reality of life navigating an industry that she memorably describes – on Bambi – as “a universe designed against my own beliefs”. On Blouse she describes her experiences being sexualised by record execs, while on Management she parodies the industry’s fascination with youth in lines like “She’s only 22”.

“[The attitude is] ‘There’s a lot more that we can squeeze out of her before she’s done.’ Because I think that what this industry does a lot is drain young women of everything until they’re not youthful any more.”

For Cottrill, as much as Sling is an album, it is a document of her endeavours to reassess what it is she wants from life. And adopting Joanie was only the first step: in two weeks’ time she plans to move into the house she recently purchased, in a tiny Massachusetts town in close proximity to both the Berkshire and Catskill mountains.

“It’s so awful that it took something like lockdown happening for me to reevaluate how I wanted to move forward. But it’s now about putting my mental health first, because I deserve to have nice things that I do care about. [Things] outside of music, like a house and a dog.”

As we say goodbye, I get another glimpse of Joanie, who has been snoozing throughout the interview. Sprawled on the floor at the end of Cottrill’s bed, blissfully unaware of her significance in our conversations, it’s a pretty fitting encapsulation of the pace of life that Cottrill has finally embraced.

#interview #interviews #tearsheet #tearsheets #guardian #the guardian #the guide #clairo #sling #claire cottrill

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swanlake1998 · 3 years ago

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Article: The Black Ballet Celeb Taking On Racism in Dance

Date: June 21, 2021

By: Mary Scott Manning

With a raft of Instagram followers and a modeling contract, the Washington Ballet’s Nardia Boodoo is as close as it gets to a pop celeb in the rarefied world of ballet. Now she’s trying to make that world more fair.

A ballerina, by definition, does not speak—at least not with words. The body is her language, and she spends her life mastering its vocabulary, usually at others’ direction: a casting list on the wall, a choreographer’s instructions, a critic’s review. For dancers of color, this fact has been doubly true.

But last year, after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd, and organizations across the professional spectrum were called out by people of color for furthering systemic racism, the overwhelmingly white world of ballet wasn’t spared. One of the most influential voices in that conversation was a dancer with the Washington Ballet, 27-year-old Nardia Boodoo.

You may have seen her onstage, one of the company’s five Black dancers, or in the pages of Marie Claire—she’s a model repped by Wilhelmina who has starred in campaigns for Tory Burch, Chanel Beauty, and Nike. She began dancing only 13 years ago, but Boodoo, whose roots are Indo-Trinidadian, has soared into the pantheon of ballet celebrities, the object of teen worship and the subject of fan art (plus at least one look-alike doll).

What was never visible was the racism she endured on the way up. “Despite the fact that I work hard in rehearsal, throw myself into my art form and perform on international stages,” as she put it on Instagram on May 31, 2020, “when I return home”—to Bethesda—”I’m still most likely to be questioned and harassed for walking my dog late at night in an affluent area…that I reside in.”

This month, Boodoo appears in one of the Washington Ballet’s latest productions, choreographed by the renowned Black dancer Silas Farely. Yet some of her most important recent work has occurred behind the scenes over the past year as she pushed the company to own ballet’s history of prejudice and its responsibility to change. “She’s just been a really, really important voice in helping us to galvanize and discuss all very important issues,” says Julie Kent, the company’s artistic director, issues that “haven’t really been addressed previously, and not just at the Washington Ballet but in ballet as an art form.”

When Boodoo started training at 14, Misty Copeland was making history as American Ballet Theatre’s first Black soloist in two decades, following trailblazing Black ballerinas such as Lauren Anderson and Raven Wilkinson. Boodoo’s peers at the Baltimore School for the Arts, meanwhile, were majority-African American, a “strong base,” she says, for a young artist of color. Boodoo earned a scholarship to Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet, then landed a coveted sport in the Washington Ballet’s studio company while still a teenager.

Leaving home, though, occasioned her first experiences with racial bias in ballet. “I’ve had someone who holds power say to me, ‘Well, because you stick out so much in the corps, you have to work so much harder, because everyone’s going to be looking at you,'” she says. “That’s not my fault that you only have one Black girl in the corps.”

It was the classic conundrum of a second generation. She wasn’t the one who broke down the door. But she still had to contend with an environment that was less than welcoming. And the pressure to fit a stereotype needled her. Virtually every professional Black dancer feels it: having to straighten curly hair, receiving costumes with mesh that doesn’t match their skin tone, wearing the pink tights that make light-skinned dancers look lithe but appear to chop inches off those with darker complexions. Sometimes Boodoo’s colleagues would make hurtful comments. “Stupid things,” she recalls, “like ‘Your hair smells like Black-girl hair.'”

Rachael Parini, a friend and the only other Black dancer when Boodoo joined the company, remembers when they were asked to wear white powder in Giselle, a tradition in the ballet but a loaded proposition for Black performers. At a rehearsal, the stager hollered over the loudspeaker: “Rachael and Nardia, why are you blue?” The powder apparently had turned their brown skin another hue under the cool stage lights.

Parini describes her friend as a force—”not one to back down from a fight.” But back then, the women endured the routine microaggression quietly. For all its glamour, a ballet company is a workplace like any other, governed by hierarchies and unwritten social codes. With one big difference: There’s usually no formal human-resources department. “You sort of get this vibe that this is how it is,” says Boodoo. “The more subservient you are…the better and the more instruction you’ll receive…the further your career will go on.”

After starting to model, Boodoo met a photographer who was perplexed by her acquiescence. He described how the New York dancers he knew were much more assertive. It was a revelation: Boodoo’s confidence and following grew. She became an apprentice at the Pennsylvania Ballet, then returned to DC, becoming a full company member in 2019.

By the time the country was protesting for racial justice and dancers of color began organizing over Zoom, she was ready to speak out. “To all the dancers that don’t feel supported by their companies,” she posted to Instagram on June 1, 2020, “I think it’s time to make some changes and to hold them accountable.” Andrea Long-Naidu, a former New York ballet star and a past teacher of Boodoo’s, looked on with pride: “When I had her at Dance Theatre of Harlem, she wasn’t aware of her powers yet.”

Seeing her staff in pain after George Floyd’s Killing, Kent convened an all-company Zoom. Voice cracking, Boodoo recounted her experiences, explaining that the bias often presented itself as overtly as it did implicitly: The problem wasn’t simply getting passed over for a role but also being told her face looked “too ethnic” for the part.

Kent, who is white, listened on the other side of the screen, distinctly aware of the vulnerability on display among her dancers. A former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, she performed on global stages and had a part in the beloved 2000 movie Center Stage. “I have a unique role and responsibility in order to move [the art form] forward,” she says, “and allow for the kind of career and love that I had to be possible for as many people as possible.”

Kent inherited one of the country’s most diverse companies from her predecessor, Septime Webre, who had recruited worldwide and electrified the institution’s cultural cachet. She had added 16 dancers to the corps, almost half of whom identify as BIPOC—and now they were hurting. There’s also the matter of competition. The Ballet has to compete with bigger acts imported by the Kennedy Center. In some ways, its relevance hinges on broadening ballet’s historically older, white audience with admirers whose woke-ness won’t tolerate notions of “diversity” that predate Black Lives Matter—or that feel performative.

Kent formed a working group with members from every department to tackle issues of inclusion and equity, and an outside consultant has been guiding their monthly meetings and homework. Boodoo, who represents the performers along with Oscar Sanchez, a Cuban dancer, had expected pushback. But her fan base and platform—a social-media audience that, at nearly 50,000 on Instagram, is within striking distance of some top New York ballerinas’—would have been tough for the company to ignore.

As wider discussions started, though, it became clear that white privilege was a new concept to some. Boodoo was dismayed that some colleagues were unfamiliar with certain civil-rights leaders, so she helped organize a remote study of the book The New Jim Crow. To prod management, she and fellow colleagues of color met privately to hash out ideas for the company at large. It’s been exhausting to divide her energy between institutional matters and the rigors of performing: “You want to just focus on your art form, you just want to focus on being beautiful, being a strong dancer, and contributing to the task at hand.”

Partly because of Covid limits on gatherings and partly because they had to start with building a shared vocabulary, the working group’s progress has felt slow. But they’re in the process of finalizing recommendations to address the places where inequity creeps in. Money, donors, time, and institutional commitment, meanwhile, all could limit their progress. The group, for instance, envisions a Nutcracker free of racist tropes—in particular, the traditional Arabian and Chinese dances, which play up offensive cultural stereotypes. But ticket sales help fund the annual budget. Will the public support changes to the beloved show? Can the company handle that financial risk?

The stakes—Black dancers continually being overlooked or leaving ballet—feel higher now that the work has begun. Still, Boodoo says she feels hopeful that the company will evolve. “She’ll be someone,” says Long-Naidu, “that’ll go down in the history books of Black ballerinas.” An artist who championed a new act for the ballet, or at least one who tried.

#article #nardia boodoo #ballet #racism #anti black racism

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starspangledbigbang · 4 years ago

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Welcome to the 2021 Star Spangled Big Bang!

The Star Spangled Big Bang is a chance for writers and artists to collaborate and create stories paired with artwork, all of which will focus on the members of Team Cap from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Authors sign up to write stories that are 10k words or longer. Artists then claim stories and create art inspired by them. Creations may be canon, canon divergent, or AU. They must be centered around at least one character from the MCU’s Team Cap/Cap Quartet. All pairings as well as gen fic are welcome.

Friday 5 March - Author & Artist sign-ups open

Friday 2 April - Author sign-ups close

Friday 21 May - Author Check-in

Friday 4 June - Artist sign-ups close, Author summaries due (5k of fic complete)

Sunday 6 June - Author summaries available for preview

Friday 11 June - Claims open, Partnerships announced

Friday 2 July - Author & Artist Check-in #1

Friday 9 July Sat 17 July - Beta Claims

Friday 6 August - Author & Artist Check-in #2, Posting Date Claims

September - Posting period

Content Guidelines

Every creation must be centered around one or more characters from the MCU’s Team Cap or the Cap Quartet. This includes Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanov, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff, and Sharon Carter.

Any and all ratings are welcome, as well any setting, be it canon, canon divergent, or AU. Authors will be able to outline their preferences on rating, do-not-wants, and collaboration interest level if desired so that artists may take that into consideration when choosing what stories they’d like to collab with.

Please be mindful of portraying marginalized communities respectfully. This page from Writing With Color has a list of blogs and resources that discuss diversity in writing. Any creations that sympathetically portray hate groups or actively promote racism, transphobia, homophobia, etc. will not be accepted.

All fics must be edited, beta read, and legible. All content must be thoroughly and appropriately tagged.

Code of Conduct

Please be respectful of your fellow participants, including your mods. This event is designed to be inclusive regarding characters, ships, kinks, etc. and therefore we will not allow kinkshaming or ship/character bashing within event spaces. We are a diverse community and will not tolerate any racism, transphobia, homophobia, harassment, or general inappropriate behavior towards the mods or your fellow participants.

We want to ensure that all participants have a comfortable experience within the event. If your content or conduct does not align with the guidelines and the spirit of the bang, we will do everything possible to foster conversation and resolve the issue on a case-by-case basis. However, the final decision on how to proceed will ultimately be up to the mods. Please remember that the mods are fans just like you, doing this for fun in their spare time to share more Team Cap love.

What sort of content am I committing to if I sign up?

Authors will be required to create one original, cohesive story with a minimum of 10k words (no maximum). Artists will claim one or more stories (depending on the number of sign ups we receive, as well as artist interest) and create one piece inspired by that story. Each collab team will be required to create a banner for the master post as well.

What sort of artwork is acceptable?

All art must be visual, original art. By original art, we mean that the final product must be an original product of the artist. Using photos for reference is fine, and you can use whatever traditional or digital medium you require, so long as the art starts and finishes as your own product. Photo manips are allowed as long as they have been significantly edited, via Photoshop or other programs, to clearly resemble original art. Hit up the mods if you need clarity on an idea.

What ships are allowed?

Any prominent ships featured must include one or more characters from the MCU’s Team Cap or the Cap Quartet (Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanov, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, Wanda Maximoff, and Sharon Carter.) They may be paired with any other characters, but the Team Cap character(s) should be the main focus of the story. Other than that note, we welcome any and all ships for the main pairings, including polyamorous ships, queerplatonic ships, and genfic. All side pairings are welcome as well.

What canons & universes are allowed?

Any canon or universe is allowed as long as it features one of the specified Team Cap characters. This includes any movies, comic runs, cartoons, etc. as well as non-canon AUs. So, if you wanted to write Planet Hulk Steve or Avengers Assemble Natasha or mermaid Sam, that’s perfectly acceptable!

Are there any age restrictions for participation?

Sorry, but yes. You’ve got to be 18 or over to participate.

Can I use a work that I’ve published previously, or that’s been sitting in my drafts for 3 years?

For this fest, we need all original content, none of which has been published previously. That being said, authors, if you’ve got an outline or a draft that’s been hanging around your WIP folder for too long, now’s the perfect time to dust it off and finish it! Since the art is meant to be inspired by the story, artists must start their work from scratch.

What if a friend and I want to work together?

Writing teams are welcome, but since claims will be anonymous, no author/artist team sign ups will be allowed.

How will claiming work?

Authors will create slides with information on their stories. Claims will take place at the halfway mark, and authors must have a minimum of 5k words written to be considered for claims.

The mods will compile the author submissions anonymously to share with the artists prior to claims. Once claims open, artists will submit their choices via Google forms.

Where are the submissions going to be hosted?

All submissions will be posted on AO3. We will also promote all creations on Tumblr and Twitter.

What if I can’t finish on time, will I get an extension?

We’ll have plenty of check-ins to make sure that you will indeed finish on time! If you’ve got any concerns, the mods will work with you to find a solution on a case-by-case basis. We will also enlist the help of artist pinch hitters if necessary. If you drop before claims, there will be no penalty; however if you ghost us after claims and leave your partner hanging, we’ll take that into account for participation in future events depending on the circumstances.

Can I post work-in-progress snippets on my personal blog?

Prior to claims, all snippets and sneak peeks must be shared anonymously on the starspangledbigbang account; the mods will assist in this process. Once claims are done, you will be able to announce your team and share snippets on your personal blog, as you create. Please keep snippets to 500 words or less, and roughly ⅓ or the artwork or less.

Can the fic &/or art also count towards a bingo fill?

Yes, we will allow cross-posting within bingo-style events, as long as your partner is comfortable. If your partner would prefer to keep your creation to this event only, then we would ask you to respect their wishes. We also ask that all cross-posting be done in good faith and within the spirit of our content and conduct guidelines.

I can’t sign up, but I still want to participate, what can I do?

No worries, there are lots of ways for you to help support the Big Bang! Follow us on Twitter and Tumblr; reblog, comment, and share our posts to spread the word. We’ll also be asking for help with beta reading, pinch hitting, and other cool ways for you to get involved!

Where can I find event info?

Info on the SSBB will be posted on Tumblr (@starspangledbigbang) and Twitter (@starspangledbb), with a collection on AO3. We will also have a Discord for participants.

Who are the mods?

Your friendly SSBB mods are bangyababy, Call_Me_Kayyyyy, HeyBoy, nachodiablo, and velociraptorerin.

I’ve got more questions, help!

No problem, we’re happy to hear from you! Ping us on one of the social media sites above, or email starspangledmods at gmail dot com.

(updated 07/09/2021)

#rules #faq #ssbb2021 #schedule

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poorvioletdraws · 5 years ago

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Tom vs. The Underworld

Chapter 5: Good Thing

I decided to wait until the next day to head out and see Raya again in order to give my family enough time to cool down from the excitement. My Mom seemed especially happy for me but I don’t really understand why. Raya was just a girl. I have many friends that are girls. Her and I just hit it off well. I mean, she cheered me up when I was feeling down and helped me get through some of my problems. Her family was very welcoming of me too; my parents would really get along with hers probably. I also think I just really see myself hanging with Raya more considering how the use of portals were finito and I can’t just run to Echo Creek to third-wheel it with Marco and Star all the time now…

I let out a sigh as I tried shaking the thought from my head. I know I support my best friends finally being together but why do I still feel empty? Am I trying to fill that emptiness by seeking out Raya…? Maybe right now I just want to be around someone who is different than what I am used to. She is someone who is consistent, and her life is normal. I really liked that feeling back in Yomi Town. Maybe I just want some form of regularity apart of my own world again. That has to be it...

As I soared through the sky with my fire blazing from my feet, I took in my surroundings. Was the beach always so lively? I guess I never really noticed since I was so engrossed in my relationship with Star when we were here together. I saw the vastness that was the Lake of Fire and the monsters that crowded the Dock of Unending Torment getting ready to partake in recreational activities that were anything but tormenting--fishing, swimming, sailing, etcetera. The sandy shoreline was just as littered with beachgoers that even all the Skull Ball courts were full. I then came upon Rochelle’s busy shop and saw she was getting rather slammed with customers waiting in a long line that weaved out the entrance and around the back. I bet she misses having her sister around to help. Maybe even as much as I miss her...

Instinctively, as my mind thought about Raya, my hands traced over the necklace we made together around my neck. Why have I been feeling like this about her? I’m not entirely sure but this is how I felt when I first liked Star… Ugh, it’s just because of my recent breakup that I’m still so emotional. I mean, it’s nice being committed to someone... Amazing, really... But I don’t want to use my friendship with Raya as a reason to rush into something serious so soon… Or do I? No, that wouldn’t be fair to her. I would just be selfishly trying to put her in Star’s place… But that’s not what I feel like I’d be doing nor how I feel about her… What am I feeling about her exactly... I need to know for sure.

And with that, I took my flame up a notch and jetted across the coastline of Lava Lake Beach with tremendous speed.

I came to the leisurely beachtown of Lava Shores within no time at all. It was quiet compared to the commotion down from where I started. This was a town where many of the more affluent demons and monsters came to retire to in their old age so there wasn’t much to see. Basically, it was kinda boring.

I strolled through the streets in hopes of seeing anything that would catch my eye like the gloriousness of Yomi Town, but I was disappointed. There were gigantic dunes making up the landscape behind the lakeside civilization that could have been used for sick off-roading or skeleton horse racing, yet it was fashioned into a golf course for a country club. Lame. There were an abundance of wineries, cigar lounges, and high-end designer stores like Zergdorf Badman and Siks-Six-Sixth Avenue being frequented by patrons old enough to be my great grandfather. Double Lame. I’m sure when I’m much older these kind of places would interest me more, but at the moment they were the epitome of LAME. Just a lot of snooty stuffed shirts too consumed by their own ego to notice their demon Prince casually walking by.

Before my lame-o-meter could tilt further, I came to a pathway leading out of town with a large gaudy sign pointing in said direction.

“Madame Morguerite’s Manor for the Magnific.” I muttered the name aloud a little bemused. That definitely sounds like the place Rochelle mentioned, plus the address matches. I can only imagine what I’m in for by heading to an establishment that sounds that cringey. How can Raya subject herself to something like that?

Not wanting to waste anymore time, I blasted off toward the finishing school, accidentally singeing the pompous sign with my fire.

The school was every bit as showy as the sign leading to it. Everything St. Olga’s was, this institution was not. It was an extravagantly posh chateau as if from a fairytale brought to life with walls made of gold that blinded you if the light caught it just right. It screamed wealth right down to its great entrance door made of marble. I swear I heard trumpets sound and a heavenly chorus sing just from looking at it.

“This really exists in the Underworld?” I questioned.

I was ready to move toward the building when I heard a shrill, sultry voice speak loudly enough as if to gather the attention of a group. I levitated around the side of the school and hid behind some hedges to observe what was going on.

There was a small assortment of teenagers dressed in school uniforms sitting at art easels in the middle of a flourishing courtyard containing all sorts of vibrant flowers and shrubbery clipped into angelic figures. Their demon teacher, the aforementioned Madame Morguerite, headed the class. She wore a tight floor-length gown made of white silk and a ridiculously long brimmed, veiled hat. Her eyes were covered by ivory cat-eye glasses and she took deep drags from her long cigarette holder in between instructions. You couldn't picture a more perfect headmistress for this place.

“You darlings will come to find that art is one of the greatest pleasures of the most esteemed Lord or Lady. To have an eye for it, you should first come to understand the work that goes into the creation in order to respect it.” The Madame spoke as she slinked between each student.

I peered at each teenager and tried to locate Raya. It probably would have been easier if the teacher didn’t walk in the way of my limited view from the bushes.

As if on cue with my complaint, the headmistress returned to the front of the class and the demon girl I had been searching for was revealed to me from behind her teacher’s previous position. My heart began to beat quickly seeing Raya again. She was in uniform but had her jean vest and a black beret covering her head as her wild scarlet hair fell down the side of her right shoulder. With each stroke of her brush, she looked quite proud at whatever she was painting.

“That’s why I had you copy this fabulous piece by a famous sculptor in order to give you a better understanding of timeless art.” The Madame gently touched her fingers to a pedestal positioned in front of the class. The figure atop it looked to be an ordinary bowl of fruit made of stone--though it didn’t look like a bowl of fruit to me, more like a bowl of misshapen large rocks.

“What’s so great about that pile of rocks?” I mumbled to myself as I glanced over to the ‘art’ in question.

“Now I will proceed to grade you on what you have completed.” Madame Morguerite announced.

As she inspected the canvases by her students--each one having mimicked the drearily gray figure down to the last monotonous detail--she gave praise and said how “splendid” they had done. Until she came to Raya.

“EH! What is that?” The Madame groused.

I shifted over to the other bush to see what Raya had created on her own canvas. While the other students kept their design simplistic and dull, I recognized the array of colors immediately. There were gradients of oranges, pinks, blues, and purples swirling across the page with half-circles of yellow splotches peeking from cloud-bursts. Raya remarkably recreated the scene of the dimension with a thousand sunsets! It was breath-taking and realistic as I felt the nostalgia coming back to me when we had gone there for the first time. Remembering that day made me want to keep feeling it and other new experiences, with her… That was what I was most certain of now.

“It’s my artwork.” Raya responded with a smile.

“Darling girl, this is not art.” Madame Morguerite snipped.

Raya (and I) looked at her puzzled. She replied, “... I’m sorry, ma’am--”

“Madame.” The headmistress corrected her.

“Oh, um, Madame,” Raya repeated, “I just wanted to paint a special place that I was able to see thanks to a great friend... Not many of us get to travel to other dimensions so I wanted to share this place with everyone. That’s what art should be after all. You know, something special to you. And not copying someone else’s work.”

“Ha, ha! A girl is a comedian, I see.” Madame Morguerite scoffed as she over exaggerated her laugh and began strutting away to the front of the class again. “How can you understand what is special and what is not when you can’t recreate a famous sculpture on paper.”

Raya began twiddling her fingers as if internally debating whether or not she should respond but then decided to speak up anyway, “Well… I think I know a thing or two about sculptures, being a Stone Demon and all… That’s just a pile of rocks anyone with basic knowledge could do. My sister has created better pieces than that--”

“Do not insult real artists!” The Madame snapped at Raya, turning on her heels to confront the teenage girl again. “Did you come here to waste my time and your fellow students’ time? I suppose we should all just learn from the city girl instead of the professional and accomplished teacher?”

“Madame, that’s not what I’m implying-”

“Your classmates come from Nobles, Lords, and Ladies and aspire to carry on such status. You, Darling Raya, should be more grateful to me for accepting you into my program in order to help you find a proper place in life. Or do you just want to be known as the daughter of any old stonemason and blacksmith?”

Raya grew defensive, “Excuse me, Madame, my parents are not just any--”

“Silence, we’ve no time for your bickering. We must carry on with the next lesson. You may taken upon yourself to now apologize to your classmates for also hindering their success.” Madame Morguerite commanded.

Raya glanced at the faces of her glaring classmates. She muttered an apology and hung her head, looking frustrated as she tried to hold in the creeping tears welling up in her eyes.

I was furious! I felt every sting of the words that the headmistress attacked Raya with as if it were directed to me. How dare that rude crone talk to her like that. How dare she insult her family like that. I can’t just sit by and allow someone to treat those I care about like they are nothing. Not today, not ever again!

Trying to remain hidden, my eyes lit up and I raised my hands to the sky. All of the paint cans by each student began to tremble and rise while they remained mystified in their seats. Suddenly, the cans shot towards the headmistress who was still unknowing due to her back being turned. The students had no choice but to gasp at what they witnessed next.

As the paint dumped onto the Madame Morguerite, turning her all white attire into this muddy mix of colors, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Eeegh! What in the Underworld is this! You little brats, how dare you!” She shrieked while frantically wiping the paint from her face. “Who did this?!”

The students grew worried from being unsure of the culprit so they stayed silent. I on the other hand was trying to hold my mouth shut from busting out with laughter at the new appearance of the headmistress.

“Fine! No confession then no recreation time as scheduled for the rest of the week!” The Madame announced.

The students groaned in unison and tried to protest against her.

“Silence! And no points for this lesson for any of you. You will come to learn that harboring a TROUBLEMAKER is detrimental to your reputation and success. Now clean all this up and assemble in the Great Hall in ten minutes!” Madame Morguerite scolded the class and stormed out of the courtyard.

I saw Raya was trying to keep her giggle from being audible but had quickly changed her composure when she noticed the other students were glaring at her again. I heard them murmur “troublemaker”, “commoner”, and “city girl” as they proceeded to clean up their station.

Raya grabbed her canvas and took off in one instant, not wanting to hear anymore of her classmates’ remarks.

Maybe I shouldn’t have interfered… But I couldn’t just sit back and let her be talked to like that. Why would she want to go through something like this? These guys don’t know anything. Is this really how the social classes of the Underworld treat each other? None of these snobs are deserving of who Raya is. She’s amazing… Why doesn’t she see that? There has to be a reason behind her wanting to put up with this place and I need to find out.

As the other students began to head into the chateau, I quickly—and stealthily—followed behind them.

As the ten minute deadline passed, I was hiding behind a large pillar in the Great Hall of the school and saw the students were now sitting at long tables with Madame Morguerite walking between them. She was now much cleaner and wearing a high-end white suit with her hair pulled into a tight bun.

There were soup and salad bowls sitting in front of each pupil as waiters and waitresses went around filling them up and placing other dishes to the center of the tables.

“Dining etiquette is very important for the most esteemed. This is a time where you honor your guest and hold conversation about your expertise, business ventures, or entreat partnership with the invited.” The Madame explained.

“Geez, we don’t even do this at home.” I muttered.

“We must give interest to our party first and foremost. Engage them and show an interest in what they have to say because you never know where their status can get you later in life. Enjoying the food comes second.” As Madame Morguerite finishes her statement, the students proceeded to make small talk with each other while occasionally taking small sips from their soup.

Instead of conforming to the same practice as the others, I spied Raya completely ignoring the students next to her. She was gulping her soup bowl down and asking her waiter for more repeatedly. I chuckled at the sight. That girl really can eat.

“What are you doing?” Madame Morguerite asked peeved.

“Eating.” Raya replied between sips of her soup. The Madame shooed the waiter away before he could fill the bowl up for a fifth time.

“Have you not listened to what I have said?” The Madame looked ticked as she questioned the girl.

“Yes, ma’am—I mean Madame. But if you spend your time talking, the food will get cold, or my siblings will usually steal it.” Raya responded between mouthfuls of her salad she now partook in instead of her endless soup.

I saw a vein pop on the Madame’s forehead as she spoke, “Young ladies of prestige do not stuff their faces like piglets.”

“Well the portions are so small, you have to eat tons more between courses.” Raya complained as she was now gulping down the beverage in her goblet.

“Are you mocking me?” The Madame rebuked.

All the other students stopped conversing with each other and focused on what was going to happen next between the defiant pupil and the teacher.

Raya had been reaching for the dish at the center of the table but, upon hearing Madame Morguerite’s words, immediately stopped feasting to sit with her hands in her lap. She realized what she must have done wrong and told the headmistress, “No, Madame, I’m sorry if you feel that way… I meant no harm…”

The demon girl’s face was flushed with embarrassment again and I could feel myself starting to get angry at the impending backlash she would receive.

“No harm? If such restrictions as conversation with your party—who is someone more important and less gluttonous than your supposed upbringing—are beneath you than by all means, carry on. Eat, darling. A girl must be starving, it’s not everyday you get to consume delicacies as lavishly as this considering where you come from.” The Madame chastised the demon girl scornfully.

Some of the other students began to snicker and make “oink” noises under their breath as they joined in with their headmistress’s ridicule. Raya held her head down slightly with her bangs covering her eyes.

How dare they insult her like that! What kind of teacher is this? How can they be so cruel?! No matter where you come from or what your social class is, no one has the right to treat another so rudely! I had it with this place! I need to get her out of here before it gets any worse!

As I was preparing myself to intervene, the demon girl did something totally unexpected. To her headmistress’s dismay, Raya began to start vigorously eating again despite her classmates taunts. The students all quieted at once and I, now entirely confused, halted my charge.

Madame Morguerite grew agitated and snarled, “What are you doing?!”

Raya stared up at the headmistress with a sophisticated seriousness and replied, “I’m eating. You said to carry on so I intend to do just that and follow your instructions. Food may not be as important to you where you’re from, but for me and my family it is something we are grateful for. And we would never treat the ones we serve with such disrespect.”

I silently cheered for Raya as she stood up for herself; You tell her!

“You insolent girl! I’ll show you disrespect!” The Madame threatened while she raised her hand as if to slap the class troublemaker!

Raya was alarmed and held her hands up for protection but luckily I acted quickly enough before any harm came to her. I used my telekinesis once again to cause all of the bowls on the table to shoot out like an open hydrant and drench the headmistress with their soupy contents.

Everyone in the room was holding their breath as the Madame exploded with rage yet again.

“Eeeeeek!!! You little monsters!” She shrieked.

But instead of waiting for their headmistress to deliver their punishment, the students all fled the Great Hall with impeccable speed.

“No points for any of you for this lesson! I shall find which one of you brats is doing this, no matter what! With King and Queen Lucitor as my witness, I’ll find you!” The Madame declared.

I doubt my parents would see eye to eye with all you represent, Madame ‘Morgue’. Not their circus, not their monkeys. This is all me.

The rest of the day had kind of calmed down after the incident in the Great Hall. The students were confined to their dorms up until the Madame decided to proceed with the last lesson of the day. I was unable to retrieve Raya since she was in a “Girls Room” and, prince or no prince, my Mom taught me to respect females well enough to not go peeking in their private quarters.

It seems the students were all going to learn something that did actually pique my interest. They now stood in lines listening to their headmistress’s instruction on formal dancing. The ballroom was grand with a small orchestra playing classical music from a theater stage. I positioned myself behind a row of statues and observed once again, waiting for the opportunity to step in when Raya needed it.

“You darlings should be appreciative of me for giving you a chance at redemption.” Madame Morguerite commanded at the center of the half-circle the students formed around her. She was now less soupy and wearing a white poofy bell-shaped gown that was bedazzled with shining gemstones. “I will reward all points lost as well as the ones for this lesson to those that follow the criteria exceedingly well. Is that understood?”

The students unanimously gave a resounding, “Yes, Madame.”

“Now, choose your partner to complete this lesson. You will not pass without performing the dance together and as accurately as possible from how we practiced over the last few days. So I suggest you choose wisely and begin at once.” She warned while stepping away from the dance floor.

I noticed how all the students glanced over at Raya once Madame Morguerite finished speaking. They quickly separated from the Stone Demon girl and coupled up with those amongst themselves.

Raya was disappointed as the other students began to dance around her. She slowly took the walk of shame to the side of the dance floor where chairs were placed and slumped down into it defeated.

I couldn’t allow this to go on any longer. Wanting to change for the better is all well and good, but she doesn’t need to be treated like this no matter what her reasoning is behind it. And she definitely won’t continue to be treated so harshly with me just bearing witness to it any longer.

Raya let out a sigh and hunched over her lap with her hands cradling her chin. “Of course this happens… Even here everyone thinks I’m a failure so much so that I can’t even get just one partner to complete this lesson…”

“Well lucky for you you’re going to have a partner that is THE best dancer at the Silver Bell Ball.” I smirked while standing in front of the demon girl with my hand out and finally revealing myself to her.

“T-Tom?!” Raya gasped as she automatically accepted my reach.

I brought her into a closed dance hold and gave a nonchalant “Hey”, though my heart wasn’t as relaxed as I played myself off to be. It began to beat rapidly and the nervousness from before returned; however, the music was steady so the pace I took would hopefully calm my palpitations with each step. Having her in my arms really affirmed how I’ve been feeling about her. I just hope I don’t mess things up between us because of my own desires.

I saw Raya blush once I started to lead. She stammered, “Y-You’re here!”

“I’m here.” I smiled as I dipped her.

“But why?” She asked as she came back up into position. I noticed a lot of her classmates were now focusing on us, and they were rather intrigued too. Of course, I tend to have that effect.

“More importantly, why are you here wasting your time with this place?” I replied while turning us around in a small circle.

“Oh… um… Well…” She trailed off for a second as I slowly spun her in place. “...I just wanted more training... And lessons in proper etiquette…”

“Uh-huh, and why?”

“Well… You are a prince and I’m just an… ordinary girl from the city… From an ordinary family…” Raya murmured. She now tilted her head away towards the ground and her bangs veiled her eyes.

“Okay, so what?” I asked as we stopped dancing completely but still holding on to each other.

Raya continued to speak while not meeting my gaze, “I don’t know, I’m just constantly referred to as the black sheep of the Belmontes--a daydreaming slacker with no interest for the family trade… I’m rather unconventional, I guess…”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, you do know that right?”

Raya still looked uneasy as she tried to clarify, “... I just thought this would help me find more direction... But I feel I still can’t even get this right anyway. Everyone is so passionate and... headstrong... and ambitious when it comes to who they want to be. They are the future Lords, Ladies, and Nobles that will serve you one day. You are and will always be surrounded by royalty and all that… I just didn’t want to be an embarrassment if I were ever in your presence again…”

“You would never be!” I blurted out a little shocked at Raya’s revelation. My change in tone startled her but also made her finally lock eyes with mine. How can she be so clueless to what I think of her. I would be miserable if I were only able to associate with people like the ones here for the rest of my life. I mean, if she were to even meet Star, she would understand where I’m coming from and that lofty titles doesn’t represent your personality.

I gave her a half smile and continued, “You don’t need any silly lessons and you definitely don’t need to try and impress these boring guys. And you and your family are anything BUT ordinary. I think you’re great the way you are. Don’t let some lame stuck-up tell you otherwise. Dance the way you want to!”

Raya’s soft grasp on my hand and shoulder became firm as if seeking some form of intimate security. Her honey eyes were radiant in the ballroom light while her lips were parted in a way that almost gave off a hint of invitation for me. I probably would have kissed her right this moment if it wouldn’t make it weird. I mean, I haven’t even asked her out yet. But still.

“What have I done?” Raya said with a sigh as she looked around the room. “I really thought this would help me but it just made me almost lose myself. I mean look at this place. It is boring, isn’t it?”

“And lame.” I added as we both started to laugh.

Suddenly, I had a great idea. “Hey, why don’t we liven things up a bit!” I suggested while grinning mischievously.

“Huh, how?” Raya asked curiously.

As if on cue with her words, I raised my head up toward the ceiling and began chanting while all three of my eyes glowed brightly. I slowly levitated both Raya and I slightly off the floor, though I almost lost focus when I felt her press against me surprised from the sudden change in footing. The room began to tremble and shake making it difficult for everyone to keep their balance. The musical ensemble ditched their instruments on stage and escaped from the room as fast as they possibly could. And from the ground where they once stood, a new group of undead musicians took their place as they emerged from the now split surface on the floor. But instead of suits and clean-cut appearances like their previous openers, this group had ripped jeans, leather jackets with studs, spiky hair, piercings still in tact on their rotting flesh, and all sorts of rebellious staples. They picked up the instruments left behind, if they didn’t have any already, and belted out harsh melodies of standard Metal.

Immediately following the spectacle, a great crack tore open on the dance floor as more undead partygoers dressed in Rock ‘n’ Roll attire began to thrash around, causing quite the ruckus. Raya and I on the other hand were jamming out with the rest. It was awesome!

“What is this horrid display of downright--Gah!” Madame Morguerite tried intervening but was pushed repeatedly aside by the fleeing students. She glanced over to see Raya and I enjoying the entertainment and became furious. She started for us in a mad dash as she screamed, “How dare you besmirch my school, you uncivilized monsters!”

“Hey, thanks for the compliment.” I mocked. I held on to Raya’s hand and led her away from the ensuing commotion.

The undead rockers weaved in between us and the headmistress, grabbing hold of her and tossing her around in the air, now involuntarily crowd surfing.

“Eeeekkkk! You’ll pay dearly for this!” She shrieked.

Raya and I couldn’t contain our laughter as we watched the scene unfold. Justice was indeed served.

Watching Raya happy ignited that feeling once again deep down inside of me. Even though I’ve known her for a short time, this felt right. This is how it should always be. Us together just having fun. Well, just us together doing anything really is fine with me. I know now what I must do. I can’t wait any longer. I need to tell her now. I want her to know how I feel about her.

I looked over to her and told her, “Hey, this place is the worst. Let’s get out of here.”

Raya smiled back at me and replied. “Alrigh--whoa!”

In an instant, I swooped the unsuspecting demon girl up in my arms as if she were a damsel being rescued by a superhero and eagerly jetted us off toward the nearest window without hesitation. She had her arms instinctively wrapped around my neck for support so I was able to bring out the hand that was holding her back and blast away the glass with my flame effortlessly. We then proceeded to fly away in hopes that this would be our last encounter with Madame Morguerite’s Manor for the Magnific.

We landed just outside of Lava Shores on one of the many sand dunes bordering the town. I knelt down in order for Raya to regain her footing onto solid ground again. But before I could stand up completely, it was my turn to be surprised as the demon girl unexpectedly closed the space in between us and embraced me in a friendly hug. I definitely wasn’t going to complain.

“Thank you, Tom!” Raya exclaimed. She released her grasp, though I mentally objected, and now clutched her hands together excitedly as she spoke, “I didn’t know you could do any of that. So it was you all along, wasn’t it? You did all that with the paint and the soup bowls too?”

I itched the back of my head with one hand and replied, “Yea, sorry for interfering. I just couldn’t stand by and watch how that hag treated you. I hope you aren’t upset.”

“Of course not, that was so wicked cool!” She gave me a genuine smile but suddenly grew concerned after realizing something. So she asked, “Um… Not that I’m not happy to see you, I really am. But what happened? I thought you went back to work everything out with your girlfriend?”

Taken aback by her question, I thought over the best way to answer it without her worrying if the outcome may be a result of the time we spent together in Yomi Town, but there was no need. She helped me reach a decision in a way that benefited everyone. So I just went ahead and told her straight up, “Yea well… About that… We kind of decided that it would be easier if we… broke up…”

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry!”

“No, no. It’s cool, actually.” I assured, “It was something we both mutually accepted and all that matters is that we can still be friends. All of us…”

Raya raised an eyebrow still unsure and asked, “Are you sure? It still had to have been very important to you and hard to come to such a decision… I’m glad you were able to figure it out but are you really okay?”

“Yea totally. I thought I would be in more pain than what I am, but a lot of… events happened after our breakup and I think it all helped me realize some things about myself. The both of us were just heading to different places in our lives.”

Raya gave me a reassuring smile as her response.

I took a deep breath and continued, “So... It kind of… Brings me to my other reason of… of why I’m here t-today…”

I started to get nervous as I looked into her eyes. Why am I feeling this way all of a sudden? Am I anticipating some kind of rejection? No, I think we both are on the same page here. It’s going to be okay.

“Tom?” Concern crossed Raya’s face while still waiting to hear what I was trying to say.

I took another deep breath and tried to tell her, “Okay, look, you helped me a lot when I was going through all of that angst and… Um… You see, you’re really--Um… Your family is really…” I couldn’t stop stumbling over my words. Looking into her eyes were weakening my confidence all of a sudden. “Okay, this is rather embarrassing. I knew what I had to say but now it’s not coming out right… Ugh!” I clenched my eyelids together in frustration. Why was this so difficult?!

But suddenly, I felt a warm hand gently cup the side of my cheek. I shot my eyes open to see Raya’s reassuring gaze and felt that strange, indescribable feeling return once again.

“It’s alright… Try to calm down and take your time, it’ll help you gather your thoughts.” Raya spoke in that benevolent voice of hers as she brought her hand away from me. Was it wrong of me to want her to touch me again? It made me feel as if I could do this and tell her what I wanted to say--what I should’ve said before leaving her after our time in Yomi Town.

I cleared my throat and let my courage carry me through as I said, “Okay, if it wasn’t for you, I think I would still be hurting and I never would’ve realized what is best for me right now or for the future of the Underworld. You didn’t have to spend time with me through that moment of crisis, but you did. And I’d like to believe it wasn’t just as a service to me for being a prince but more for who you are as a person.” I took both Raya’s hands in mine and stared at them through half-lidded eyes. “And that is something that I like about you very much. So… I think I want to see where this goes...”

It was hard to tell if Raya understood where I was going from the look on her face. She seemed perplexed by my revelation but had those same dreamy eyes I’ve been falling for. This is it, I can do this.

So I tried to clarify better while looking into her eyes. “What I’m trying to say is… I think we got a good thing going and… I don’t want to see it end...”

“I love that song!” Raya exclaimed happily as she clasped her hands together, releasing our bond.

“Hm?” It was my turn to be confused.

Raya smiled coyly at me. “D-do you want to... hang out sometime?” she asked.

Yes! She understands!

“I would like that very much…” I grinned as I went in to hold her hands again but this time Raya stuffed her own hands in her pockets as if searching for something.

“Alright! My friends and I are meeting at the arcade, Tartarus, this weekend. You should come.” Raya suggested, completely oblivious...

No! She doesn’t understand…

“Oh… Okay.” I felt a little let down from her response. Was it not obvious enough of what I meant? Or was she playing as if she were clueless just so we’d stay friends? No this is genuinely her. I need to try harder and show her how I feel about it…And I guess it is best to take things slow and not rush into anything just yet… Sucks though...

Raya took my hand in hers and pulled a pen from her pocket. “Is it okay if I write my address here?” She blushed as she asked.

“S-sure…”

“Alright.” She beamed. “You can pick me up from my home at like noon and we can walk there together, if that’s alright?”

“Sounds great.” I gave her a half smile.

As I watched her scrawl her address on the back of my hand in cute bubbly letters, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I cared about her. How could she not know? I came back in part to see her again and was upset if she were one of the ones I’d never see again from that incident at the gate. I told my family about her already. She came into my life unknowingly and doesn’t notice how important she has become to me. From all the heartbreak and stressful moments I have been having lately, Raya has become apart of my best days here. If this is how life in the Underworld will be than I’ll gladly accept it. She has shown me things I’ve never known before and I want to see more with her. We have so much fun together and I need her to see that.

So I suggested, “Hey, you want to race back to your sister’s store?”

Raya got nervous and said as she blushed, “Um, I don’t think I would win that race. I’m not fast and can’t fly like you can.”

“Haha, nah, I have a better idea!”

As the day was drawing to a close, Raya and I galloped across the sandy shores of Lava Lake Beach on skeleton horses. Our laughter and cheers filled the air as we rode on, joining the sounds of all those joyous beachgoers I had seen from earlier. I wish time would just stand still at this very moment. The future of the Underworld was becoming one I could definitely look forward to, even more so now than ever. I hope that it can always stay this way.

But little did I know, an otherworldly being not too far off in the horizon had other plans. While the waves of molten rock growled, so did something from beneath that took refuge lying in wait for its time to strike; recharging its energy after its failed attempt at keeping the gate to the Underworld within the Musty Mountain sealed.

#svtfoe #OC #starvstheforcesofevil #oc fanfiction #star vs the forces of evil #tom lucitor #The Underworld #TomVSTheUnderworldFanfic #TVTU

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pastwinter · 6 years ago

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heya, dears!! i’m just reposting this list of neato, romantic plots since it’s been a while and the list has gotten a little longer -- as usual, like this or shoot me a message if there’s something you’re interested in!

baek jinho | runaway manhwa artist | heterosexual | 24

a lil inspired by the truth untold by bts, i’d love!! a plot in which emotionally cautious jinho develops feelings for muse b ( a literal light! someone who really knows how to pull jinho out of her shell ) , and as is her habit, she keeps it all bottled in and hides it -- but! she’s awfully honest in her latest manhwa in which she depicts the protagonist finding the courage to admit her feelings, and it’s honestly so obvious!! that the love interest is a portrayal of muse b!! to everyone except muse b who has yet to read the manhwa ( or maybe they’re just oblivious ) . and maybe if we want to take it down the angsty route, muse b gets into a relationship with someone before jinho can confess her feelings??

ideally i’d like for muse b to have an outgoing personality seeing as jinho can lean towards reserved. age doesn’t matter so much really?? but she’s heterosexual, so muse b must be male.

jinho’s 24 and she has a little brother who’s 19, so anyone around that age she’ll label as a “ kid ” and dote on them like she would her brother so if anyone wants a classic “ i like you but you treat me like a child B(( ” plot, come at me!! and either gender could work here, but it’ll be angsty if your muse is a gal since jinho can’t return her feelings... and doesn’t that sound like fun : )))

“ you keep confessing to me and i keep turning you down bc i’m honestly scared out of my mind that i would ruin everything but good golly gosh you’re very persistent aren’t you?? and psh no this isn’t a date! i’m just humoring you bc i feel bad ( but we both know that’s a frikkin lie ) ”

also see this post for a few other plots i’m dying for starring my lil runaway!

lee gwangmin | youtuber | bisexual | 23

a second meeting with his first boyfriend!! bc while gwangmin cared for him deeply ( maybe even?? this guy was his first love?? ) , i can see the two having broken up bc gwangmin refused to acknowledge that his parents had an issue with his sexuality despite their uncomfortable words of support. he refused to talk about it and went to lengths to avoid having his parents and boyfriend around each other for extended periods of time, and that had to be frustrating!! and stressful considering this would have been around the time they’d be graduating/had just graduated high school. so maybe that’s why they broke up?

the reason can always be discussed, but i’d love a second meeting in which both of them have grown up a little! and maybe confront the fact that gwangmin is STILL avoiding the problem.

also gimme a prickly pear who isn’t so prickly around gwangmin bc he’s such a wholesome sweetie pie and makes them feel so good about themselves and just!! happy in general!! and maybe they start to like him more than they should and gwangmin can tell but stays quiet bc... they’re so... CUTE when they’re trying to hide it!! and when it comes out on accident or they witness someone coming onto gwangmin and they get embarrassed and frightened of his reaction, he’s just grinning bc of course he likes them!!

y’all i’ll admit it right now -- i’m weak for cliche plots but who isn’t??

kim nari | professional dork singer | bisexual | 18-21

so my little ray of sunshine can be played during her time as a trainee or during her time as an idol

so pretty pls gimme a sunbae-hoobae relationship that’s 90% platonic and mentor-like and 10% something more. but is that something more acknowledged?? not if you want to avoid scandals and secret relationships!!

but maybe... it DOES get acknowledged... and they gotta sneak around... but nari’s just debuted finally, and if it’s revealed she’s dating, that could be really bad for her... “ the timing might be bad but n o we’re not breaking up bc of a ‘ what if ’ ”

“ you’re that boy i ran away from back in middle school when you confessed to me and continued to avoid afterwards but now we’re older and dating isn’t so scary and you grew up to be incredibly handsome wow... also i’m so sorry ”

maybe said boy is a fellow idol?? a producer?? or she just runs into him by chance?? either way, it’ll be awkward for nari B ))

bc i’m weak for the idea ( and is it cliche?? MAYBE ) , consider your muse joining a show in which idols are paired with their “ ideal types, ” and nari just so happens to be on the show, too. now, this could go a few ways!

the producers are mistaken in pairing nari with your muse bc the two of them HATE each other!! but maybe not as much as they first thought.

OR they’re utterly smitten with each other... but they’re not paired together! they’re someone else’s ideal types, so do they pine and never act on their feelings or do some sneaking about without anyone knowing??

also give me a prickly pear who isn’t so prickly for nari bc she’s the actual sun and makes them feel so warm and soft :’ ))

choi donghae | lost soul | bisexual | 20

you know what i’d love?? an angsty plot in which your muse assists donghae in moving on aka brings his murderer to justice before danbi has a chance to kill him and before he’s able to take another victim. and while it’s a happy moment bc he and his sister can finally be at peace, it’s bittersweet bc your muse sincerely cares for him

i’d also give my left shoe for a plot where donghae starts acting as your muse’s guardian angel bc he misses them and doesn’t know what else to do with his extra time and they eventually figure it out bc no one has THAT much good luck

also donghae pretending to be human around your muse and starting to fall for them but that sweet boy just can’t!! keep such a big secret from them!!

and if we wanna go down the human!donghae route, gimme that classic “ bad boy/girl meets good boy ” but instead of corrupting donghae, he starts to rub off on them and that’s not good for their reputation, dude

choi danbi | bitter specter | bisexual | 20

" i’ve been pretending that i’m not dead by appearing to you when barely anyone is around but you ran into my mom and mentioned me and now you’re confused and shaking bc according to her, donghae and i are still missing, so i suppose i owe you some answers now ”

“ i saved you from getting mugged one time and it was very freaky and ghostly and now you’re purposely looking for me in random allies?? are you dumb??? and why is this so endearing to me?? ”

and for human!danbi, how about a rival athlete who she Hates but kissed one time when she was tipsy and now... now she hates them even MORE bc they won’t let her forget about it!!

son daehyun | grim reaper | heterosexual | o l d... but looks 28

before i even start, let me point out that daehyun is based upon the grim reapers from tvn’s goblin, but he’s part of a unit who specializes in finding the souls who were never allowed to move on

so... how about he's assigned to find a soul who was supposed to die YEARS ago, but narrowly avoided death through a miracle only a greater being could have caused and like... he’s gotta keep an eye on her bc she shouldn’t even exist but there’s no way that he can reap her when she’s living her life! but every time she finds herself about to die, daehyun is there against his better judgement to save her until he’s too late

but maybe... she finds her way back to him bc she refuses to let go of their memories :’ ))

and gimme senior reaper dae having to show this rookie reaper the ropes and he’s trying to act all tough and cool for her, and while it’s so obvious how soft he really is, the rookie lets dae do his thing bc it’s cute. and she tells him so -- and dae is flabbergasted

“ cute?? me??? nO i’m not blushing shut up ”

ALSO dae meeting his love from a past life!! i already typed up a starter for this scenario a while back, but i’d also really love to plot it out!

son soojin | old soul | pansexual | technically old as heck but 26 in this life

lil info before we begin -- soojin is a reincarnated soul who chose to keep her memories in hopes of being reunited with her lover one day

what if… her lover was actually an immortal being of some sort?? and they’ve been sad bc they’ve gone all this time thinking they’d never see her again but wait!! it’s her!! she just has a different face bc reincarnation is apparently a thing!!

or similarly – they were broken up about her death but it’s been centuries, dude… they’re Over It and have moved on and are in love without someone else. sucks to be soojin.

oR soojin’s fallen in love with someone in this life, maybe even contemplating marriage when who is that she stumbles upon?? her lover from her first life?? well fRIK

O R soojin finds her lover, they don’t recognize her bc she has a different face, and she withholds who she really is bc they seem so… happy with their s/o. happy without her. and maybe it’s time she lets them go bUT WAIT A SECOND THERE SHE SLIPS UP and says something only SHE would have known/said!! her cover’s blown!! uh oh : )))

chae jihoon | vampire bar owner | bisexual | 94 but looks 24

how about you gimme jihoon seeing his first love for the first time since they turned him and ran away : ))))

so originally i wrote the person who turned jihoon was a lady, but!! it really doesn’t matter tbh. they just need to be on the wild side with a soft center :’ ) and apparently have a fear of commitment!

but really just!! give me a surprise meeting or maybe it’s on purpose -- maybe they really missed jihoon and just wanted to see how he was doing after all these years. maybe they want a second chance or a chance to apologize. whatever the reason, give it to me!!

also give me this horrible situation that ends in disaster : ))) once again, the gender is flexible since i haven’t put a ton of thought into this person who wiggles their way into jihoon’s heart during his darkest time.

and who knows?? maybe our muses can have a happy ending instead of that sad ending! or... maybe not : )

also give me this softness right here thanks!!

and now just some general scenarios i’d love to see!!

polyships pls and thanks!! gwangmin and nari are one cute duo or could be paired separately with two other muses, as well as most of my other muses -- the only ones i don’t think would be up for it ( or at the very least be very difficult to convince ) would be jinho bc she's so wary of relationships to begin with and daehyun.

but give me the cute first date, the cuddling and kisses and before that, the proposition of dating each other. give me the angst where one thinks the other two don’t like them as much as they do each other. give me breaking up just to get back together bc it being just two of them doesn’t feel right anymore.

any sort of fan meets their idol plot! i’m Weak for them

best friends to lovers bc who doesn’t love those??

“ i’ve got a tough/cold image but i’m soft for you ” plots!!

#indie krp #krp indie #krp lit #open krp #indie rp #i added a bit here and there but the big addition is jihoon's plots since i hadn't created him yet when i originally made this #also i probably won't message anyone tonight bc i'm tired and not feeling so swell but! i've got tomorrow off!#so i plan on messaging people then when i've had more sleep!

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brimstonestardust-blog · 6 years ago

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alright, doing them both in one ;;

i’m brand, your local disaster, and i go by they/them pronouns for anyone who cares. my babes beau and dominique are gonna hit the dash as soon as i reply to some starters in the tags, so read up on them and hit me up if you want to work out some plots for them. i’ll also drop some wcs in this intro too if you wanna fill ‘em!!!

ladies first because i love dominique more anyways, so ;;

full name: dominique anastasia dupuis

birthday: february twelfth, 1990 ( twenty eight )

title: genesis department agent

hometown: paris, france

fc: ana de armas

dominique’s mother died during childbirth and her father dipped out not long after, not prepared to be a father at all. so dom was raised by her aunt, sasha. her mom and her aunt were twins and came from an old, french family with more money than they’d ever know what to do with. her father was cuban and quite the opposite. a drifter in his prime, he fell in love with dominique’s mother when he was a penniless artist in paris and after abandoning his child, found a career in the government no less, serving as a french ambassador. but it’s cool, dom’s not bitter or anything bc it’s not like she hasn’t been successful as well. her aunt, sasha, supplemented her enormous trust fund (doubled by her sister’s death) by making her name for herself as one of the generation’s greatest painters, selling her original works for thousands of euros and knock off original antiques for millions. her illegal work was kept secret from dom wile she grew up, of course, but dom never cared where the money came from. she just enjoyed the spoils of her privilege with a smile on her face as she did so. this bitch literally grew up in the penthouse of the shangri-la because sasha dupius didn’t want to sign a lease bc she didn’t like commitment and shit. like, that’s how much money these fucking people have. anyways, tho-- dom grew up with absolutely no rules or boundaries. her aunt expected her to excel at things and she did, but only through gentle guidance and loving support. her aunt’s alcoholism and criminal background aside, she was a perfect parent, if not a little distant because she’d never planned on having children of her own. in school, dominique was an average student. imaginative and adventurous, she focused less on her grades and schoolwork and more on her fleeting hobbies and interests. her aunt’s work, painting and selling, took her all around the world and dominique was happy to follow her globe trotting guardian from country to country. her love of travel outweighed her focus on academics, but she was hardly stupid -- her intelligence just made itself known in different areas. when she finished her primary schooling, her aunt let her in on her other life. sasha never liked lying to the girl, but she didn’t want dom exposed to her life of crime at a young age. dom’s indifferent reaction to the dishonest business grew into a willingness to help and she shipped off to university, double majoring in linguistics and cultural studies in effort to bridge the gap in her aunt’s business untouched because of the cultural and language barrier. by the time she graduated college, she was deeply invested in her aunt’s counterfeit business, selling nearly identical fake classics to people overseas that shipped them out even more for higher profit. it was dom’s thirst for knowledge that caught the circle’s attention. every untapped culture that she wanted her aunt in business with, she researched and immersed herself in until she was absolutely flushed with information. and she absolutely loved it. which is why she jumped at the opportunity to join an unofficial espionage organization tasked with collecting intelligence on absolutely everything in the world. as a genesis agent, she’s constantly immersed and openly in love with her job and the work it entails. she’s bubbly and outgoing in between being totally and 100% into her work. she loves travelling for work, she loves collecting information for the genesis project, and she loves being special ops certified. it makes her feel mildly like a badass. she’s just a ball of sunshine overall and i’m hype to play her.

wanted connections: mentor, best friends, sparring partners, fellow tourist, gym buddies, ex lovers, friends with benefits, etc.

beau, on the other hand, is a piece of shit ;;

full name: beau edward braxton

birthday: august 18, 1988 ( thirty )

title: law enforcement liaison (fbi)

hometown: san francisco, california

fc: theo james

beau braxton never has and likely never will fall into the category of ‘good person.’ throughout the course of his childhood, beau was constantly ill and when he learned that his physical health situation would garner sympathy from the adults and children in his life alike, he took that fact and ran with it, exploiting the sympathy of others to get what he wanted. he was three years old when he was diagnosed with transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy. although the immunodeficiency disorder resolved itself by the time he was seven, the damage to his immune system had been done and little beau found himself prone to contracting a myriad of common illnesses like the mumps, influenza, and worst of all for the young boy–meningitis. all of these illnesses, while they were treatable and common enough, were hell on beau after so long of being sick. until he was in his mid teens, every minor symptom seemed to rattle him to his core. the fevers and headaches were unbearable, the nausea and lack of appetite left him feeling malnourished, and the lethargy and constant fatigue had him exhausted and in bed for days at a time. while meningitis typically only lasts a week or so, beau was always struck with illness after illness and when he wasn’t at his pediatricians, he was at home in bed, and for that reason, he was home schooled all the way throughout high school, even after he started to take a turn for the better. his mother, who came from an old oil family and provided her son with a string of nannies and teachers that had an incredible turn over rate (both due to beau’s terrible attitude and an unwillingness to care so closely for a sick child) and whatever monetary and material allowances the child might have wanted, was out of the picture more than she was in it, although they lived under the same roof. beau grew up feeling his mother’s quiet and seething resentment despite the fact she was never present, knowing that olivia braxton blamed him for his father, mark’s, leaving when he was four. not everyone could handle such a difficult, sickly child. by the time he was seventeen, he was as healthy as he was going to be. he was still a target for trivial illnesses like the common cold, but these bouts of sickness no longer had him bedridden. he was up and moving and ready to experience the world he’d been missing while he was tied down by his compromised immune system. san fran was out, and he head to berkeley for college, where he met his college girlfriend, juniper bernthal. one would expect a child plagued by illness after illness to develop an appreciation for life, but beau always convinced himself that he didn’t care to live or die. he didn’t care about anything and the appreciation he was supposed to have nurtured into greed and irritability. everything he ever did, he did to reap the benefits for himself, rather than for the good of anyone else. his decision to go off to college and major in political science made him look like a noble man, but he was doing it for no more than the money he knew it’d bring in. the government was the end all be all, after all, so he knew he needed to be in the government. right out of college, he moved to washington, d.c., where he interned at the fbi. it was somewhere between his internship and his bid to train for special ops that the circle recruited him to be a liaison. knowing then that there was an organization more powerful than the unites states government, he felt he had no choice but to continue going up. if being a liaison at the circle meant a pay raise and a reason to feel like he was more important than his fellow fbi agents, he knew he’d take the offer again and again. he has very little true loyalty for the circle, but he likes his job. being a secret agent is pretty rad and he likes the perks that come with the title, so he doesn’t do much to risk his job. he’s also rekindles a romance with his old college girlfriend, juniper, after learning that she and her sister nell were employed by the circle as well. he’s not into the relationship at all, but it’s nice to have someone to call a partner, even if he’s constantly treating her like shit.

wanted connections: secret fling/affair, best friends, sparring partners, gym buddies, mentor, fellow fbi agents, etc.

#circle: intro

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catholicartistsnyc · 6 years ago

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Meet: Bethany Lee

BETHANY LEE is a painter and sculptor. www.belfineart.com

Catholic Artist Connection (CAC): What brought you to NYC, and where did you come from?

Bethany Lee (BL): My hometown is St. Paul, MN. In 2013, I moved to New York in order to serve as a lay missionary with LAMP Ministries in the Bronx.

CAC: How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist?

BL: As a Catholic Artist, I see my mission as the contemplation of beauty through the creative process. Because beauty is one of the attributes of God, this is ultimately evangelical.

CAC: Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?

BL: On a fundamental spiritual level, being a part of the Church has changed me from being an artist because I just like to draw to being an artist who experiences God and loves other people supernaturally through my work. It's a very different thing being an artist as a Catholic rather than as a pagan. The Church has also provided me with the opportunity to meet other Catholic artists and to grow spiritual through organizations such as the Catholic Artists Society, the Catholic Artist Connection, and Sacred Beauty. Materially, the Sheen Center in Manhattan has provided support through a residency and opportunity to show in their gallery. The apprenticeship in which I am currently engaged with sculptor Andrew Wilson Smith came about as the result of a lecture held at St. Vincent Ferrer.

CAC: Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?

BL: I'm currently studying in the drawing and painting program at the Florence Academy of Art in Jersey City. My fellow students and instructors (few of whom are card-carrying Catholics) are real servants of Beauty and are a daily inspiration to me. Within the official bounds of the Church, I've been blessed with the friendship of people I've met through the Sheen Center and other Catholic Artist organizations who have been more explicitly supportive.

CAC: How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?

BL: Beautiful liturgy.

It seems to me that lots of people within the Church are bending over backwards to help and include artists but without really understanding what it is that their lives are like and what they need. I think there are a lot of simple things that the Church can do (and in many cases already does.) Here are two examples: People working in the arts often have weird work schedules and so it can be difficult to do things like get to daily mass. One of the things I love about living in New York City is that there are so many different masses at different places and times available. I use the MassTimes.org app all the time.

Another thing about people working in the arts (especially the visual arts) is that their work life can tend to be isolating - in a variety of ways. That means that it is really important to have ways to connect with other people in the church. The church I have been attending has a well attended "convivium" (coffee and donuts with wine, basically). The 20 minutes of conversation after mass really means a lot to me. Both of these examples, however, seem to me to be things that would help your average single, workaholic adult in New York City.

CAC: Where in NYC do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?

BL: I've been attending 9AM mass at St. Anthony's in Jersey City. We sing chant and polyphony. It's glorious. Are there any singers out there? Come sing with us.

CAC: Where in NYC do you regularly find artistic fulfillment?

BL: I'm a student at the Florence Academy of Art in Jersey City in the drawing and painting program. If it were any more fulfilling, I think I'd explode.

CAC: What is your daily spiritual practice?

BL: My formal prayer life is very flexible. There are a couple of things I am committed to no matter what and other things that are optional. It's changed a lot over the years and has helped a ton to have a spiritual director.

CAC: What is your daily artistic practice? And what are your recommendations to other artists for practicing their craft daily?

BL: Some time spend in observational drawing every day is a must.

CAC: Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist.

BL: Hm. That's a really good question. Just a normal day at the Florence Academy. Look at stuff. Paint it. Through that act, be present where time touches eternity. It's the ordinary days in the studio, doing what I love to do that seem most complete.

CAC: You actually live in NYC? How!?

BL: So, I actually first moved to NYC as a lay missionary working with a ministry. They provided housing. It was actually a really good way to get to know the city. At that time, I had given up my studio practice because I thought God was calling me to a different way of life, so maybe my case is not particularly helpful to other people. But, seriously, in my own experience, the most practical thing is to surrender your life to God and ask for the next best action. Also, Jersey City is lovely. Rent in McGinley Square is not too bad. I live in a boarding house. It's clean and there are no bugs, but I don't get a kitchen and I share a bathroom.

CAC: But seriously, how do you make a living in NYC?

BL: I'm currently self-employed and a full time student. I'm engaged in a variety of free-lance activities the most sketchy of which is street peddling. I recently submitted a painting to Paradise Found Studios which is a website where people can buy prints of art that echo God's glory. It looks like a cool team to be involved in. Visual artists, check it out!

CAC: What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in NYC?

BL: The ConArtist Collective in the East Village is a communal workspace / gallery / online forum. It's sometimes scary, but it's been a good resource.

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maugustyniuk · 4 years ago

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How Freelance Dancers Have Survived—and Thrived—During the Last Year

Broadway's shutdown. Canceled competitions and conventions. Closed studio doors. It's been a rough year for dancers everywhere since pandemic-related closures began rocking the arts community last March.

But what have the last 14+ months been like for freelancers, dancers who do not belong to a specific company or studio but instead make the majority of their income from booking one-off projects and gigs? Dance Spirit spoke with seven freelancers from around the dance world to hear what it's been like going it alone.

Facing Fear and Isolation

As in-person projects and gigs disappeared in a matter of days last March, freelance dancers were forced to pivot their businesses, manage their mental health and navigate unknown circumstances—and they had to do it all solo. In the beginning, it was really challenging.

Shocked by the drastic repercussions of the pandemic, many freelance dancers found themselves withdrawing in the early days of the shutdown. "There was an Instagram message here and there, but I stopped talking to a lot of people," says native New Yorker Melany Mercedes.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Melany Crystal Mercedes (@_melanymercedes)

Many freelancers, especially those in major art hubs like NYC or L.A., are used to seeing their fellow dancers regularly at classes or auditions. But because of the pandemic, they lost this connection point overnight, and that hit hard. NYC-based dancer Brianna Rios says it was hard to feel inspired to create during those early days stuck in her small Brooklyn apartment. But she felt re-inspired when her IG feed began to be flooded with videos of friends and colleagues dancing in their living rooms.

She says that before COVID-19, it felt like dance videos had to be perfect. "You had to be dressed up, in a beautiful location," she says. Without the ability to go anywhere, dancers had to get creative and make do with what they had. "It was pretty cool to see everyone be vulnerable online like that," Rios says. The trend helped her feel more connected—and inspired her to start creating again.

Reaching Out for Help

As a freelancer, you are your own business, which means it's up to you to do all the things that go into running a successful company—product development, marketing, sales, accounting. At times it can feel incredibly overwhelming, especially when your "product" is pulled away from you overnight.

"It was scary," says L.A.-based dancer Alexis Beauregard, recalling those first few weeks and months. "We didn't know what was going to happen, and at first, I think a lot of people retreated. I know I did."

When it became clear that things weren't going to open up anytime soon, Beauregard made a conscious choice to shift her mindset and start showing up for herself and her business despite the challenges around her.

"That's when I started reaching out to people," she says. And not just to other dancers, but to videographers, graphic artists and other colleagues in entertainment. She asked them what they were doing, how they were getting through this time, and if there were any ways they could collaborate.

Those conversations opened up a lot of new opportunities, not just to begin to bring in an income again but to regain the inspiration, creativity and motivation she'd lost during the lockdown. After Beauregard held a few donation-based classes on Instagram Live for her 178,000-plus audience, a friend suggested she start teaching through Zoom, a platform she'd never heard of at the time.

"I didn't know if I could translate the years of experience I have as a dancer, performer and instructor through a screen. But there was also something comforting in knowing everyone was in the same boat. We were all figuring it out together," she says.

Eventually, Beauregard decided to build her own online platform so she could offer online tutorials, as well as live classes, and again asked for help from friends and family. "I couldn't have done all of it by myself, and that's something I have really learned during this time," she says.

The last year forced Beauregard to redefine how she thinks about running her business. She says that even when you work for yourself, you are not really by yourself. You always have other people around you supporting you.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alexis Beauregard (@beaulexx)

Finding New Ways to Connect

Though dance freelancers may not belong to a formal organization or company, they're still part of a very important community—the dance community. But the isolation of the pandemic forced many freelancers to find new ways to reconnect with their community.

Last spring, NYC-based dancer and choreographer Anya Katsevman decided to host a series of Instagram Live conversations with other artists within the movement industry, in an effort to bring dancers together and spark conversation and inspiration.

After being forced to cancel her last pre-maternity leave, in-person class due to COVID-19, Sarah Eika Burke decided to release a virtual Baby Mama dance tutorial that now has more than 15,000 views on YouTube. It's been almost a year since the video went up, and mothers are still finding the tutorial and sending in their own videos. She says it's been a special experience to share with them, one she most likely wouldn't have had if the pandemic-related closures hadn't happened.

Diversifying Income Streams

Eager to regain a sense of financial security after all of his project-based performance work was canceled last spring, Gabriel Emphasis decided to return to school to get his real estate license last year. He had been thinking about it for a while, but probably wouldn't have had time to commit to it with the back-to-back gigs that defined his pre-COVID dancer lifestyle.

"I honestly think that towards the end of this year we are going to start seeing a big wave of entertainment come back. I actually have been getting a ton of leads and requests for events during the fall in this last week. People are starting to feel comfortable again," he says.

Still, he's excited about having a new source of income in a different industry. "I do think we are going to have a comeback. It's going to be strong. But whether it's going to happen this fall...I can't tell you that."

Prioritizing Relationships

Now, as in-person classes are beginning to reopen and in-person life is beginning to resume (with some lingering restrictions, of course), freelance dancers are finding themselves focusing on building relationships and really connecting with other dancers in a way they may not have thought about before.

"Having a group of people that I'm around all the time and just being in the studio feels really good," says Hunter Houde. He realized how much social interaction was present in his dance life before the pandemic hit last year, and he's now looking at it with new appreciation.

And as post-pandemic life begins to resume, we're going to see a lot more collaborations from freelance dancers.

"I came out of college thinking I had to go to every audition," says Burke. But she says collaborating with other creatives is the best thing she ever did for her career, and something she's going to continue to prioritize moving forward.

from Dance Spirit https://ift.tt/3fR69LZ

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simply-shakera · 4 years ago

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2020 In Review

We made it to a new year. I do not take this lightly at all. The last few months have been extremely tough in so many different ways and has affected every area of our lives. But here's the thing - we didn't give up and for that I celebrate us.

Many didn't live to see 2021. Before I proceed with my 2020 review I would like to take a moment to honour the lives of people in my life that I lost this year:

The beautiful and precious Anaya Anderson; sleep peacefully baby girl.

Two men with hearts of gold Justin Warner and Kareem "B.K" Wade

Two women who were pillars in the Black Canadian community Kike Lola Odusanya & Denise Jones

My cousins Tash (TO), Marie (JA), Marlene & Don (US)

and three of the most jolly elders that lived long beautiful lives Papa Chunny, Mama Wilson, and Papa Henry

and ya'll I am adding Kobe Bryant and Chadwick Boseman to this list. I know I don't know these men personally but their passing really affected me. Something about losing such giants at such young ages was hard to understand knowing that they had so much fire left in them. Their work has left such an impact on their industries and hearts of many.

While navigating a global pandemic and one of the biggest civil rights movements in history - I was and still am dealing with a personal matter that has been pretty difficult. Still I give God thanks for his grace, love and endless blessings that have come in many forms. One of which is through friendship. I have had to lean on my friends A LOT - they were the MVPs of my 2020 - for real for real!... Alisha, Rena, Jeff, Sarah, Sid, Lily, Michelle (just to name a few) I am looking at YOU!

What was beautiful though is that throughout all the chaos, confusion and grief, I found the opportunity for discovery, healing and reconnection.

Now for a fun recap!!!!!!! Let's laugh and relive some fave moments from the year and Simply Shakera highlights.

Moments I am proud of:

On a personal level there were many triumphs that were achieved from big to small. Professionally I went into 2020 with these priorities: to book more speaking events, to have Carnival Spice work directly with different school boards and to take Carnival Spice fitness programming online (the irony!!!!!!!!)

From the moment the year started I hit the ground running and achieved those goals . The path to get there didn't look ANYTHING like what I imagined but it is only the beginning. Here are some awesome highlights from along the way.

Received the People's Choice award for Best Dancer of 2019 via byblacks.com

Was selected as one of the Top 100 women in Canada to watch in 2020.

Was invited to hear former president Barack Obama speak live in Toronto.

Finally introduced VISION my goal setting and vision board workshop to the world.

Secured brand collaborations and speaking opportunities with some cool clients from TVO Kids to Nike Toronto.

Meanwhile in the land of spice, before the lockdown, Carnival Spice hosted our biggest in person event to date - that night still gives me goosebumps. We hosted an instagram live interview and dance class with Real Housewives of Atlanta star Tanya Sam that had an audience of over 3, 000. We've continually trended on Tik Tok since July and was even featured on the app’s explore page. The team performed at a few virtual and in-person events including the most dynamic Black History Month school assembly with over 500 people the day before lockdowns. Spice also celebrated a 7th birthday via a virtual event and was voted Best Dance Company for a second year in a row by byblacks.com. I’m proud of the #SpiceFam - we truly persevered against all odds.

Top 3 Internet Moments

VERZUZ!

Shout out to Timbaland and Swiss Beatz for developing this concept - it was the gift that kept on giving. Top music artists from different genres and eras had healthy battles on instagram using their respective music catalogues. These instagram live streams were mini concerts that provided some of the best internet moments of the year. Teddy Riley's technical difficulties (and the memes to follow) were hilarious. Brandy and Monica facing off was so uncomfortable to watch; but still, it was beautiful to have these young legends come together and be celebrated. However, nothing and I MEAN NOTHING was more monumental then BEENIE AND BOUNTY CLASH! Listen, the way that night revived my soul - WHEW! ...I'm sure many of my fellow Caribbean peeps can agree. The laughter, the music catalogues, the camaraderie between the artists, the memes, the entertainment quality that was similar to a past time. SO GOOD!

Tik Tok Dance Challenges.

Say what you want about Tik Tok but it is, BY A LANDSLIDE, my favourite app. I wish I joined earlier. I enjoy how it's a mix of fun, education and entertainment. Plus from a business perspective it positions your product or service directly in front of your audience. Although I never want to hear the songs Savage by Meg The Stallion, Savage Love by Jason Derulo, or WAP by Cardi B ever again, I must acknowledge how Tik Tok dances have changed the way music is heard and marketed. Even soca had success on Tik Tok! The #PutYuhBackOnItChallenge by Denise Belfon & Dj Flex was trending for months. The Carnival Spice take on the challenge achieved over one million views!!!

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion

This television moment was something the world never knew it needed. The HBO special was wholesome from beginning to end. As a huge fan of The Smiths and this show, it was beautiful for me to see all the characters come together to reflect and reminisce with us watching. I cried, I laughed, I learned and I was inspired.

My Top Music Picks:

Top Reggae: “Lockdown” by Koffee

Top Soca: “By Any Means” by Voice (groovy) & “Yuh Bad” by Preedy (Power)

Top R&B: “Hit Different” by SZA

Top Hip Hop: “Dior” by Pop Smoke (Rest in peace to this young artist)

Top Gospel: “Something Has To Break” - Kierra Sheard with Tasha Cobbs Leonard

Top Dancehall: “Call Me If”, Dexta Daps

Top Pop: “Savage Love” by Jason Derulo

Top Afro (and arguably the biggest song of the year): “Jerusalema” by Master KG

Top 3 Words of 2020

Entanglement

Speaking of The Smiths - Jada Pinket Smith gave us one of the most meme-worthy words of all time as she revisited a personal matter on an episode of her hit show the Red Table Talk.

Pivot & Zoom (It's a tie)

Lockdowns and safety protocols have been tough personally but especially professionally. Business owners like myself know these these two words far too well at this point. To stay afloat we constantly had to adjust our business models to ensure our business could some how operate with whatever safety protocols were in place. For many, pivoting meant taking our services virtual. Dancing in front of a phone screen has been taxing to say the least but I am grateful for the ability to have a way in which I can connect with my community and clients.

Quarantine

What once was a word you only heard on medical shows and sci-fi movies became how most of us lived our lives at some point in 2020. Solitude was common; even if you were quarantining with other people. Drive-By Birthday parties & curb side deliveries were a thing. Stay in your bubble they said. If you have to leave home where a mask they said. Many introverts were excited to stay home until they realized it's MUCH different when you don't have a choice.

Top Media Moments

Even with a lockdown, your girl didn't lose her stride entirely. I remained 100% committed to my mission despite the world wind of changes going on in the back end. I enjoy being on camera and it was an honour to continue sharing my story and my work with the masses. Here are a few videos interviews that you can click and check out:

Interview With One Caribbean:

Carnival Spice Fitness demo on Breakfast Television (1 of 2)

Carnival Spice Dance Workshop at the How She Hustles - 10 Year Virtual Celebration

Carnival Spice in Barrie for Cultures Day

Carnival Spice Dance Workshop with Kiss 925:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDMWVwwnd-q/?igshid=h3f2bppx2b03

We Are Carnival Spice - The Documentary:

https://youtu.be/2RLZBCw8jkM

Breakfast Television 2/2 - featuring my nephew Matteo

https://youtu.be/Go7ZpURAiLE

Interview with the Toronto Carnival Festival Committee

https://youtu.be/l53DvpbDaqw

What a year! We will never be the same. I do really want to say thank you again to every person this year that was intentional about pouring into me with love, advice, support and encouragement. It was needed and it was felt tremendously.

I pray for the safe keeping of you all; for your continued success and growth.

and now, I shall embark on what’s next, put my learnings from 2020 into action & continue to lead with passion & positive vibes.

Xoxo and Happy New Year.

#review #recap #carnival spice

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cathygeha · 4 years ago

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HARROGATE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS REVEALS FIRST TASTE OF WORLD-CLASS LINE-UP FOR VIRTUAL ARTS WEEKENDER CELEBRATING THE BEST IN BOOKS, MUSIC, SCIENCE & MORE – ‘HIF WEEKENDER’: 23 – 26 JULY 2020

harrogateinternationalfestivals.com | #HIF2020 | #HIFAtHome

PREMIERE OF NEW BRASS COMMISSION ECLIPSE by DAVID LANCASTER featuring soloist MIKE LOVATT

INTERVIEWS with JOHN SUCHET | STELLA DUFFY | ANTHONY HOROWITZ | BEN PALMER

ADAM RUTHERFORD | LEWIS DARTNELL | CLAUDIA HAMMOND

PERFORMANCES from STEVEN ISSERLIS | TASMIN LITTLE | MAHAN ESFAHANI

NAVARRA STRING QUARTET | MISHA MULLOV-ABBADO GROUP

GEORGE HARLIONO | SILAS BASSA | ABIGAIL HAMMETT & IWAN OWEN | RACHAEL GREEN

SEAN PAYNE | NOAH STONEMAN | GRANNY’S ATTIC

GRAEME PARK DJ SET

THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER VIRTUAL CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL

LEE CHILD | JOSEPH FINDER | MARK BILLINGHAM | VAL MCDERMID interviewed by MARK LAWSON

VAL MCDERMID’S NEW BLOOD ft DEEPA ANAPPARA | JESSICA MOOR | TREVOR WOOD | ELIZABETH KAY

STEVE CAVANAGH & LUCA VESTE present TWO CRIME WRITERS & A MICROPHONE

HEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR: WINNER CEREMONY

Harrogate, Thursday 2 July 2020: Harrogate International Festivals is thrilled to announce first names for its new, free virtual festival bringing world-class culture to everyone at home, the HIF Weekender.

From 23 to 26 July, the HIF Weekender will present a celebration of the arts, featuring performances and interviews with internationally acclaimed musicians, best-selling authors and innovative thinkers to coincide with what would have been the legendary long weekend of Harrogate’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

The HIF Weekender begins with a bang, crowning the winner of the UK’s most prestigious crime fiction prize – Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year – in a virtual ceremony recognising the best of the best. The celebrations continue with crime writing royalty Ian Rankin, who was set to be the 2020 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Chair, interviewed by N. J. Cooper about Rebus, writing and Rankin’s ‘lost’ festival year. Lee Child will reflect on his extraordinary career with fellow author Joseph Finder, and Mark Billingham on the 20th anniversary of his iconic detective Tom Thorne and debut novel Sleepy Head. Steve Mosby will be joined by AA Dhand, Emma Kavanagh and Amanda Jennings to explore what it means to be a crime writer in the age of pandemic and why the genre has dominated reading lockdown reading habits, and Steve Cavanagh and Luca Veste are set to present a virtual version of their popular podcast Two Crime Writers & A Microphone for the weekend.

Queen of crime Val McDermid will be joined by journalist and broadcaster Mark Lawson to unpack the heritage and impact of her infamous New Blood panel, discussing the vital role this showcase has played in shaping bookshelves and literary careers, how trends have changed over the past 17 years, as well as giving a peek behind the scenes into has she selects her chosen four… all before welcoming this year’s formidable debut talent to share the virtual stage: Deepa Anappara, Elizabeth Kay, Jessica Moor and Trevor Wood.

For centuries music has provided refuge in times of crisis and Harrogate International Festivals has taken the bold step of commissioning a new work to premiere during the HIF Weekender, in a statement demonstrating the Festival’s commitment to supporting the arts scene and the artistic community at this precarious time.

Highly respected, Yorkshire based composer David Lancaster was commissioned by the Festival following the cancellation of the Summer Season. Inspired by the pandemic, Lancaster’s piece for brass band Eclipse was scored in just five days and represents the darkness and danger facing the arts at this time, with an invitation to remain hopeful until the light returns. The Festival has brought together musicians from around the world – from young players starting out on their journey to professionals at very top of their careers – to come together digitally as a community on the hallowed Harrogate stage for a collaborative world premiere led by acclaimed virtuoso trumpeter Mike Lovatt.

Jazz maestro Mischa Mullov-Abbado – who has also been commissioned by the Festival for new work premiering this autumn – is welcomed as a Guest Curator for the festival weekend, as well as performing with the Mischa Mullov-Abbado Group. Reflecting the Festival’s dedication to championing new talent, Mullov-Abbado has handpicked some of the most exciting contemporary young musicians to join the line-up: rising stars and former finalists from the BBC Young Jazz Musician of The Year, Sean Payne and Noah Stoneman.

There will be a host of further classical performances from world renowned musicians including distinguished British cellist Steven Isserlis, the Navarra String Quartet, multi-award-winning concerto violinist Tasmin Little, Tehran born harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani – a three time nominee for Gramophone’s Artist of the Year – as well as a raft of emerging artists: pianist George Harliono, who was recently shortlisted for Classical BRIT Award, Argentinian composer and pianist Silas Bassa, violin and piano duo Abigail Hammett and Iwan Owen, and tenor saxophonist Rachael Green.

For folk fans BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award nominees Granny’s Attic are on hand to entertain, or if rave and house music is more your scene, Graeme Park – the DJ responsible legendary Hacienda in Manchester and at the heart of the cultural boom of Cool Britannia – will be joining the line up with a live DJ set and interview, so be sure to have your disco ball ready at home.

Alongside mesmerising music and first-class fiction, the HIF Weekender presents a series of cultural conversations with the best in the business including celebrated conductor Ben Palmer, Deutsche Philharmonie Merck in Darmstadt, and Founder and Artistic Director of Covent Garden Sinfonia; theatre maker and co-director of the Fun Palaces campaign, Stella Duffy, will be discussing the state of the arts in lockdown; newsreader and presenter John Suchet will reveal the man behind the music with his compelling biography of Beethoven; and one of the UKs most prolific and successful writers – Anthony Horowitz – will be sharing anecdotes from his career, celebrating 10 years of Alex Rider and giving an early glimpse at his new novel Moonflower Murders.

As part of the Festival’s Berwins Salon North strand of TED-style talks designed to change your life for the better, the weekender welcomes geneticist, author, and broadcaster Adam Rutherford to advise on How to Argue with a Racist, BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind Claudia Hammond will explain why we should be talking rest seriously, and astrobiology research scientist Lewis Dartnell will tell the virtual audience the ultimate origin story.

And not forgetting little ones, in addition to the host of activities and resources on the Festival’s HIF Player, the HIF Weekender will be introducing children to brass music with Back Chat Kids, sharing singalongs with Family Singing Sessions and History’s Maid Kate Vigurs will be revealing the horribly entertaining parts of history that children love!

Since 1966, Harrogate International Festivals has proved an artistic force to be reckoned with, presenting inspiring and ambitious cultural experiences in the most interesting spaces across Harrogate and the region, dedicated to its charitable purpose of ensuring as many people as possible have access to the arts. This commitment now takes the Festival to our digital doorstep, but for those unable to connect HIF has created a CD version of the weekender available to the public. The festival is also hosting a colourful window campaign to spread joy on the streets of Harrogate and brighten up the #ViewFromMyWindow, as well as live performances from the Band on a Bus helping residents stay upbeat and merry, and etchings of 10 Word Crime Stories as a nod to Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

Sharon Canavar, CE of Harrogate International Festivals, said: “Out of crisis comes creativity, and Harrogate International Festivals is delighted to present a world-class line-up for our first virtual HIF Weekender. Bucking the trend, we have opened our digital doors and wallets to fund artists and commission new work, knowing the transformative value that the arts bring in supporting communities – both locally and for our international audience. Whilst there is no denying that this is a hugely challenging time for the arts and for artists, festivals play a vital part in the creative industries ecology and defining our cultural landscape, and so we are extremely proud to be presenting this rich selection to our audiences world-wide for free, ensuring the arts remain accessible to all at a time when we need it the most.”

For further information, please contact:

- Hannah McMillan: [email protected] | 07971 086649

- Gabriella Drinkald: [email protected] | 07894 587828

- Lizzie Brewster: [email protected]

About Harrogate International Festivals

‘Harrogate International Festivals’ is a charitable organisation with a mission to present a diverse year-long programme of live events that bring immersive and moving cultural experiences to as many people as possible. Delivering artistic work of national importance, the Festival curates and produces over 300 unique and surprising performances each year, celebrating world-renowned artists and championing new and up-coming talent across music, literature, science, philosophy and psychology. The HIF+ ongoing education outreach programme engages schools, young people and the local community with workshops, talks, projects and inspiring activities, ensuring everyone can experience the Festival’s world class programme and the transformative power of the arts.

Established in 1966, Harrogate International Festivals are an artistic force to be reckoned with and a key cultural provider for the North of England.

Find out more at:

- Website: www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com

- Facebook: @HarrogateInternationalFestivals

- Twitter: @HarrogateFest

- Instagram: @harrogatefestivals

- Press images can be found here

#Harrogate Festival 2020 #HIF2020 | HIFAtHome

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