#and Tara platt is an amazing voice actor

[starblizzard247]

Consider: Feixiao being voiced by Tara Platt

[kanohivolitakk]

ALRIGHT LET'S GO.

The voice acting in FE3H is genuinely the best I've ever heard in the media that enjoy, and that's saying a lot because there's amazing voice acting everywhere in games and anime. Every single one of the actors and actresses nailed their roles, and I can't imagine a more perfect cast for these characters. Everyone from the lords, students, staff, enemies, and everyone in between had such phenomenal work put into them and I can't stress how much better it made the game.

Cherami Leigh did amazing as Rhea, especially when she was angry/aggressive.

Patrick Seitz was incredible as Jeritza– also I'm really impressed by how deep his voice is.

All the lords– Chris Hackney, Joe Zieja, and Tara Platt killed their roles completely.

Everyone, from Mark Whitten to Faye Mata, Kyle McCarley and Christopher Corey Smith, Abby Trott and Allegra Clark, are such talented and skilled people. Without them, this game wouldn't have been nearly as amazing as it was.

Special shout-out to Billy Kametz, for his incredible job as Ferdinand von Aegir. He's an excellent voice actor, and person. I'm wishing him absolutely nothing but the best, and that he recovers well.

– vonordelians

AAAAAA FIRSTLY I HONESTLY AGREE WITH YOU SO HARD THE VOICEACTING! FE3H probably has one of my favorite voice-casts, everyone does a brilliant job and brings so much life and character to their given roles.

SECONDLY THANK FUCKING GOD FOR MENTIONING CHRISTOPHER COREY SMITH!!! His performance as Thales is genuinely one of my favorite performances in the game and one of the reasons I enjoy Thales as a villain/character as much as I do. Corey smiths anger and smugness in the role is just so perfect *chefs kiss* and such a good and underrated performance.

Also that Billy Kametz shouthout had me lowkey cry, given the current circumstances with him. I wish the best for him and hoping he recovers

[scarletlotus182]

3, 24, 25, 40 for the gaming asks meme :3

3. Favorite childhood game?

Final Fantasy VI~ First RPG I ever played and that game has had such an effect on me!

24. Ever cried because of a video game? Which one(s)?

Oh boy, where do I start- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explores of Sky Fate/Extella NieR Automata NieR Replicant Tales of Berseria Tales of Xillia 2 Fate Grand Order Girls' Frontline Persona 3 Devil May Cry 5 Devil May Cry 3 Final Fantasy Type-0 Okami There's probably more but that's what came off the top of my head. It's not hard to make me cry lmao

25. Proudest accomplishment in gaming?

I gotta twofer on this one. First one was my first time getting Flawless Raider in Destiny 1. It was an achievement to clear a raid with nobody going down. My friend and I joined a group to get the achievement and our first time nearly clearing it we failed due to a bug in the final encounter where the boss mechanic would just fail because of a memory leak. Our group agreed to try again the next week and in that time we found out half the group went and did it without us during the week- then a patch went out to fix the bugged encounter but it also fixed all the cheese strats in the raid (there were a few bosses you could just hide from and then push of the map with grenades). So when the weekend rolled around, my bff and I formed a new group and we cleared on our first try doing ever encounter legit. When we got that achievement, we were among the 1% of players who had managed to do that. Flawless Raider become less valuable over time as newer raids came out that were way easier to cheese as well new raids that were way harder and thus more of a bragging right to go flawless in but at the time I was on top of the world. My second proudest moment is a much smaller one, but back in the day when I used to play Halo Reach multiplayer religiously, my friends and I were playing big team battle capture the flag. You only need 3 points to win but it was still a very slow game that got dragged to the time limit. We were already going to win at 2 points but my friends and I weren't satisfied with that- and with 30 seconds left on the clock we made the boldest charge and capture effort I'd ever seen. We were flying through the air in a warthog as the entire enemy team chased us down and with 10 seconds left we dunked the last flag needed to win for no other reason than to disrespect the other team. It was beautiful.

40. Favorite voice actor?

I have 3 because I'm gay. Cherami Leigh, Tara Platt, and Cristina Vee. All of them are amazing actresses and everyone should play games they voice in in english.

[fellhellion]

hello! i've seen you answer a question on the topic of least favourite fe3h va's so.. which were your favourite voice actors/performances?

hiya! ooo favourite performances? there’s actually quite a lot!

i think chris hackney does the best perfomance in the cast as dimitri in terms of uniqueness and believability. There are some VERY silly lines in his script that he delivers perfectly in character and helps you in turn take the scenes seriously. Also, since the game models are limited in terms of expressions, dimitri’s character is massively carried by his delivery. You can hear the anguish when he asks byleth how he can save people or when rodrigue dies. You can hear how exhausted he is in the rain scene. It’s genuinely the best performance in the game for me. 

Cherami Leigh as Rhea is also a great performance in my mind. She hits right balance between benevolent and steely in white clouds and her work in CF is some of my absolute FAVOURITE like wow the lines if seteth and flayn are dead? bangers. 

Allegra Clark as Dorothea is fantastic and i love her, no complaints, Robbie Daymond has a sexe voice which we all know and he imbues a ton of personality and character into Hubert,  Abby Trott and Erica Mendez massively endeared me to Annette and Bernadetta respectively even when clumsiness/ how anxiety is played is usually something that kind of annoys me, Tara Platt’s performance is enjoyable but not outstandingly unique to me, Joe Zieja does a GREAT job as Claude tbh he really does an amazing job imbuing the character w personality and i wish the game gave him a few more emotional beats to rlly show it off and Billy Kametz as Ferdinand is an interesting one for me because i can TELL its billy kametz but it’s distinctive enough from his other performances not to bother me if that makes sense? Also I just rlly love how much colour he brings to teh character

[kdinjenzen]

Baby trans struggling with voice here; what’s your secret?

So my full story is, I was a theater kid growing up and I always dreamed of doing voice acting, so I took as many acting classes and did as many VO workshops as I could when I was pretty young. Though all that had to stop when I left home for good when I turned 18.

But I still practiced every day, vocal warmups are such a great place to start when transitioning your voice. And by the time I started my transition I was already spending once a day doing the Voice-Over Voice Actor workout created by Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt every single day, so increasing that to once before work and once after work helped with my vocal control.

For actual pitch, tone, and everything else. I sang. I sang a lot. I found female vocalists that had what I wanted and thought fit me and I sang my heart out trying to match them and find what worked for me.

It took years, and honestly, I’m still doing it. But that’s the process that worked for me. Just be sure to stretch your vocal chords and work them out regularly, it’s so easy to blow out your voice and that not only will keep you from practicing and training it, but it can also hurt like hell.

That said, there are vocal training coaches that do amazing work and can help you get results much faster than the nearly 3 years it took me to get to this point. And I have a ton of friends who use them with some AMAZING results. So I’d also look into that if you can!

[dapokemonmadster]

Fairy, Mermaid, Unicorn and Goblin!

Fairy- What is something that you get excited about? Aw man, I just always get really excited when I see people creating content that looks really cool, like. New animated shows especially!! I love animation and I love how passionate creators of animated shows often are about their content so it always gets me pumped! Mermaid- What are you looking forward to? RWBY7 RWBY7 RWBY7 RWBY7 RWBY7 RW- (Also I’m moving to LA this fall and I’m going to be living there all by myself which is TERRIFYING but also really exhilarating! I’m looking forward to trying new things and being able to try and follow my dreams!) Unicorn- Who do you look up to? 

AAAA.... I really look up to a lot of content creators and voice actors. People like Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Cherami Leigh and the like are all so amazing and cool, and really nice in person too!! (Also like. The whole cast of Critical Role. Amazing people!)    Goblin- What makes you happy?  

Just getting to spend some quality time with friends! My weekend at RTX was one of the highlights of my year mostly because I got to do fun stuff with pals. Like, my favorite night was probably one of the first nights we got there because it was 4th of July and we all went out to watch fireworks and sit in the grass and talk and AA!!! That’s the good shit!!!

(Thank u so much for ur ask, Rai, I love you with my entire heart)

[rwbyconversations]

The four RWBY girls alongside Michael Jones and Vic Mignonga had a panel on July 14th at Florida Supercon. 

Panel finally starts after five minutes and a tangent about Titanic. Michael does a runway walk while people queue up for questions, Vic beatboxes for him.

Would the RWBY girls say that their friendship is as close as RWBY’s friendship? A: Basically, yes. Lindsay notes that she’s more like Weiss when talking with Kara and Kara is more like Ruby in that Lindsay constantly dunks on Kara. Arryn notes that Blake never talks to Ruby, so she’s got that over Blake.

Of all the characters in RWBY, which would you like to see development for? Also can I have a hug? A: Hugs are promised at the booth after the panel. Arryn: “I will touch you so hard.. in the most appropriate way possible”. As for the question, Lindsay would like to see more of Neo. Kara says Mama Schnee. Arryn says Zwei. Barbara says that she’d love to see Ruby get some development. “Out of all the main cast, we have yet to learn more about her.” Vic goes with Oscar, partly for the selfish reason of getting to hang out with Arron Dismuke (Oscar’s voice actor). “He’s my little baby brother who’s now 7′4, and he went from ‘brother!’ to ‘BROTHER.’” Michael chooses Neptune.

How is everyone today? A: Great! Q: In between all the voice acting stuff, do you find the personal time to do what you want? A: Lindsay: “I mean, we had a kid, so... yeah.” Barbara notes that recording for RWBY and other RT Animation shows is just something that takes an hour a week. Arryn notes that since acting is her full-time job, she doesn’t exactly like having downtime. “Please give me a job!” Vic stabs the viewer in the heart by saying “I’m doing what I want right now.” 

Does your voice ever get tired out, especially among the people who shift from Achievement Hunter to RWBY? A: Lindsay notes the big difference in going from AH to RWBY in that “Achievement Hunter is... Achievement Hunter and RWBY is family friendly!” She goes on to say that the most exhausting thing is ‘efforts’ or battle sounds. Ruby’s voice is difficult when it comes to crying and yelling. Michael admits he takes horrible care of his voice- other VAs have special teas and honeys to calm their throats down, but when Michael’s not doing VA work he’s usually screaming. Sun is based on Michael’s normal voice and as a consequence, he’s pretty hard to do if Michael is just out of a Let’s Play. Vic notes you can damage your voice from over-usage and that it’s important to know when to stop.

Would you rather ship Jaune with Pyrrha, Weiss (Kara raises her hand) or Ruby? A: Lindsay: “Let’s remove that third one from the equation. Ruby’s in a relationship with herself right now.” Barb: “I would like to see some Jaune/Sun.” Arryn: “Sun’s in love with Blake.” Michael jokingly laments that “volume after volume,” Sun’s been doing his best for Blake. Arryn more seriously says that “Jaune needs to focus on himself. He had his chance with a girl and he screwed it up.” Arryn then notes that Blake also needs to do some introspection. 

If RWBY fought Sun and Qrow, who’d come out on top? A: Lindsay isn’t sure Qrow would go all out against Ruby, even if it was a training match. Arryn and Lindsay both consciously snub Yang. (Lindsay: “Would Qrow really fight his lovely niece?” Arryn: “The one he’s so clearly obsessed with? I’m sorry, who are you again Yang?”) They pretty much all agree that Qrow’s Semblance would sabotage Team Drunken Monkey. Michael says Sun would hang back and let Qrow figure it out.

Vic, how did you come up with Qrow’s voice? The girls do Qrow impressions of varying quality. Vic shares a story of how he got into RWBY; at a panel in Perth back in 2014, Lindsay and Michael shared some footage of RWBY that got Vic hooked. As far as the voice, they sent him some test images of Qrow and some lines that he recorded in LA and sent to them. He did a few different voices, they picked one and the rest is history. Most of the rest of the group used something close to their natural voice. Barbara initially had a higher pitch for Yang but she toned it down. Arryn uses the same voice but changes her speech pattern. Lindsay based Ruby’s squeak on her own self-deprecating jokes about being the chubby kid. Ruby’s Volume 1 voice was because they weren’t sure how innocent Ruby was supposed to be. Michael says Sun’s voice nowadays is based on a surfer bro without the accent. There’s another bit of teasing for the Black Sun fans when Michael laments that Blake keeps shooting Sun down (”He’s trying though!”) and Arryn bemoans how oblivious Blake is. Barbara tries to fit in a Bumblebee joke about her loving Yang. 

Q: Did Ruby have a goth phase? Lindsay notes that Ruby is now sixteen as of Volume 5 (Arryn wonders if this means that Blake’s finally eighteen). Lindsay jokes that Ruby likes going to Fall Out Boy concerts. Arryn once had black hair with red tips like Ruby.

What weapons would the show be able to come up besides what’s already been seen? A: Arryn: “Well the show isn’t capable of ideas.” The question was meant to be “What kind of weapons would you come up with for a new character?” Barbara says a “gun-gun,” a gun that shoots guns. Vic: “I like to keep it simple. What I do is I take a bottle, and I break it. And then I cut you.” Arryn would love to see some kind of fan weapon. Kara: “What about a frisbee?” Michael likes the idea of a game controller that turns into a whip. The fan also has a statement that Blake isn’t the only black cat he knows that’s completely oblivious to love (Adrian from Miraculous Ladybug)

What does RWBY mean to you? Barb: “It means Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang.” Vic: “Can we change it to QRWBY?” Arryn talks about how much RWBY changed her life and let her find her dream job. Kara: “It’s been amazing, I have no words.” 

A Ruby cosplayer made bracelets for RWY. Arryn got hers on-stage. Q: Any advice for anyone who wants to get into voice acting? A: Lindsay says getting into VA work is a little bit of luck, but it comes down to who you know and how you network with people. Fan dubs are a great jumping off point since directors keep up with that. Yuri Lowenthal (Merucry Black) and his wife Tara Platt (Kali) have a three-part series on Youtube that covers how to make a great demo reel as a voice actor. Vic says to take any chance you can to develop your skills. Most of the actors he knows didn’t start as voice actors, they just performed wherever they could. Basically, never say no to any acting gig, get into community theater and go to acting school. “One thing you need more than talent, is a thick skin.” 

If you guys could switch characters with someone here who would it be? A: Michael: “I’M YANG!” Lindsay and Weiss would swap. Arryn would be Sun or Yang. Barb would do Qrow. Vic in his Qrow voice: “I’m Weiss. I drink a lot.” Lindsay: Like mother like daughter! Vic at the end of the question: “I’d like to play Winter so I can lose to myself in a fight!”

How do you guys get into character? Arryn: “Don’t really have to do anything any more.” Kara watches the most recent episodes to get into Weiss’s mindset. She also records in heels since it helps her posture, unless it’s a fight scene. For Chibi/Volume 1-3 Yang, Barbara would cause chaos and build her energy up, but for Volume 4/5, she’d wear a big hoodie like “emo yang.” Lindsay finds a theme song for her characters. For Ruby she uses anime OPs like Lucky Star (Beacon) or Red Like Roses Part 2 (Volume 4-5 Ruby). Michael runs in circles to build up energy for Sun, if he plays Max from Camp Camp he starts swearing up a storm. When he’s driving in he’ll shout along with songs on the radio.

Michael, favorite character that’s not Sun? Winter. 

Who can do the best robot dance? Barbara.

Who do you ship in RWBY? (DAMNIT WE NEARLY MADE IT TO THE END WITHOUT THIS FUCKING QUESTION GAAAAAA) Barb- Bumblebee. Kara- White Knight. Lindsay- Nuts and Dolts. Vic- the USS Enterprise. 

Barbara, how was it to provide your voice for Blazblue? She rapid-fire says “I nearly lost my voice from all the power up sounds.”

Barbara, how can fans support Rooster Teeth beyond just buying First? A: Watch the shows, First is the absolute best way to support them.

Do you believe in destiny? Yes. Favorite OST song? Lindsay- Red Like Roses Part 2. Arryn and Michael- This Will Be The Day. Barb- Gold and Cold. 

Barbara, is Yang gay? Barb: “I don’t know, I kinda hope so though.”

Where are Yang’s puns? A: Watch Chibi. 

Arryn, when is Blake gonna stop being so melodramatic? “I’ve already ended it. Just wait!” 

[sophiescarlet]

my anime boston recap

i told a few people i’d write this, so here. warning, it’s long as fuck.

rebecca black - friday

while waiting for artists’ alley to open, i sat in a corner and watched people go by and saw a group cosplaying the main characters from the extremely underrecognized game the arcana, which was awesome and i totally would have asked for a picture but i’m way too shy. even though i’ve asked cosplayers for pictures before but i seem to have regressed in that sense...

i also saw (and this happened throughout the con) a bunch of hot, fit, really thin girls, which made me feel gay (as expected) but also really envious and sad and insecure about my body. cause i wish i looked more like them.

i also saw two girls cosplaying snow halation!honoka and kotori from love live, and the honoka had a giant honk nesoberi that i totally envy, and then right afterward a hate na heartbeat!eli and nozomi came around the corner and they were the coolest. i wish i’d had the guts to ask them for a picture too.

finally i went to artists’ alley and i got to buy a print from one of my favorite persona 5 fan artists but unfortunately she didn’t have the postcard set i wanted to buy. BUT right across was another fan artist whose stuff i really like so i bought a BUNCH of her prints - one of each of the p5 girls for me, and an extra makoto for my friend - and she came over to thank me and we chatted a little and it was nice. i am fucking determined to befriend some of these people and now at least one of them knows who i am.

i went to a panel on “fandom as coping” presented by a social worker which was really cool. she talked about how even though she’s a social worker, she still went through a severely suicidal period this past year and survived because of yuri on ice. i left partway through because then she turned it over to the audience to share our stories and i didn’t need to hear from a bunch of people talking about bad things that had happened to them.

the next thing i went to, after hanging around the vendors for a while, was tara platt’s (mitsuru and elizabeth from persona 3) q&a. she was really cool, and i actually managed to ask her a question, which was which one she preferred. (she said she can’t choose a favorite, but had more fun with elizabeth.)

i went to a presentation by sunrise, the studio that made love live among other things, but it was boring and i left early again because they were talking about gundam and other action stuff i don’t care about.

i’d planned on going to johnny yong bosch’s (makoto from free, kitamura from toradora, yu and adachi from p4) q&a, but it had a hella long line and it was obvious i wasn’t going to get in since the room wasn’t going to accommodate that many people. so i went over to a panel greg ayres (kaoru from ouran, nagisa from free, monokuma from the danganronpa anime) was doing on “it gets better.” come to find out he is openly bi! and is good friends with his ex who’s a trans woman and confronted her family about misgendering her! he is my new fav ngl and a far cry from hikaru’s va whom i met at tora-con a few years ago and was kind of an ego. it was a conversation sort of panel and we talked about a lot of stuff around queerness and bullying. i had to leave that one early too, but wished i could have stayed for the whole thing. also, there was a girl across the aisle from me who mentioned she was trans, and at one point i happened to catch her looking at me, and i think she was checking me out! sadly, i did not run into her again.

the reason i had to leave early was to get johnny’s autograph. he was really cool and i totes wish i could’ve gone to his q&a. since i don’t actually have any free! or toradora! or p4 merch, i had him sign my p3/p5 dancing game since it did at least come with p4 dancing as a free download. he took his daughter with him to the con which i find adorable though i have to wonder how bored she was sitting there for an hour and a half while he signed autographs.

katy perry - last friday night

at this point, i had a couple hours to kill, so i walked out to newbury comics in the hopes they’d have the bananarama vinyl reissues from the british record store day. they didn’t (though weirdly they did have the shakespears sister one), but they had kacey musgraves’ golden hour on sale, and i’ve been waffling on buying that for ages, so i finally snapped it up. then i went back to the mall where the con (sort of) was and got some godiva ice cream, which was even more overpriced than you’d expect but still very good.

so my last agenda item for the day was yuri lowenthal’s (makoto/minato from p3, yosuke from p4) q&a, which tara crashed because they’re married, which i love because it means that mitsuru is irl the canon waifu. once again i managed to ask a question, which was which p3 girl he’d like to have minato end up with, which made everyone laugh, and of course he said “i want to preserve my marriage, so either mitsuru or elizabeth.”

then i went home and felt like death.

i don’t know any songs that have “saturday morning” in the title

i took an uber to the con for saturday because the T was being replaced with a shuttle bus and i decided i’d rather pay $17 each way for a 15-minute trip than $2.50 each way for a 90-minute trip.

i went to a panel on “idols in anime” that was kind of interesting but i didn’t take much away from it, other than that i should maybe watch revue starlight. but then i went to a panel on “diversity in the magical girl genre” that was really cool. it was hosted by a queer latina woman and she talked about racial, gender, sexual, and ability diversity. it was interesting because she has a very negative view of yuuki yuuna, which i can certainly understand but don’t really share. but it was a great panel and i feel like i learned a lot. one neat idea she had was that what comes across as queerbaiting (or whatever-baiting) to western audiences can be really progressive representation in japan, and vice versa.

after that i went to another panel on “magical girl fashion” and literally got up and left because i couldn’t stand how wrong the presenter was.

i’d missed out both days on the free autograph passes for yuri and tara, so i went to their paid session, which to make a long story short was an absolute fucking disaster, and i ended up making a complaint, during which i cried in front of the con’s assistant director. so there’s something i can check off my bucket list. i also met the director, who came over to reassure me they were fixing things and said, “i keep saying i need a machete to take off people’s heads this year.” so obviously i immediately liked her! in the end, i did get their autographs (on the same p3d/p5d game) for fifty fucking dollars... i’d been expecting more like thirty. and they didn’t even personalize them. sad trombone noise. they were nice though.

then i rushed over to the free autographs and saw kara edwards (chihiro in the danganronpa anime) and had her autograph a wall scroll i’d bought from a vendor. i wish i could’ve gone to her q&a because she seemed sweet.

and right after THAT, i got in line for tara sands (a bunch of pokemon) and had her sign a manga volume i bought for my friend. she was also awesome and i really wish i could have gone to her q&a because we had this exchange:

me: this is for my friend who’s a huge bulbasaur fan

sands: oh, you’re such a good friend!

me: i know. and i won’t let them forget it.

sands: [laughs] that’s good! keep it up, i like your style!

i then went to greg’s q&a, which was fun. he mentioned that while recording the audio commentary for ouran, caitlin glass (haruhi) and todd haberkorn (hikaru) got really uncomfortable during one of the twincest scenes and started talking about anything else they could so they wouldn’t have to talk about the twincest, and in the commentary you can just hear greg laugh a little because he’d made himself laugh by thinking of saying “i just think it’s hot” but kept himself from saying it out loud. the hero we deserve tbh.

whigfield - saturday night (i actually don’t like that song btw)

at this point, it was time for the 18+ panels to start, so i went to one where yuri, tara platt, lisa ortiz (idk her), and billy kametz (same) did in-character readings of various scripts. they did a couple of star wars ones which obviously did nothing for me, except that tara did bb-8 in a christopher walken voice, which was fucking hysterical. the other one i remember was lisa doing a southern belle voice narrating the notebook, with yuri as sasuke (i think) as noah, and billy as lelouch (?) as ally. but the best one, of course, was the last one, which was the iocane powder scene from the princess bride, performed by yuri as spider-cop (iirc) as the sicilian and tara as elizabeth as westley. it was AMAZING.

then i went to greg’s 18+ panel where he recounted risqué stories like when his mom wanted to watch an anime where his character has anal sex. i remember it being hilarious but unfortunately don’t remember any specifics other than him affectionately calling his lawyer the C-word and a story about beating up an asshat in the o’hare airport after asshat broke a jigglypuff ornament his friend made him.

blondie - sunday girl

so having stayed out past 11:30 for greg’s panel the night before, and forgetting to take melatonin before bed... i actually couldn’t wake up sunday morning so didn’t end up going back to the con at all. which was really sad and disappointing as it meant i missed getting greg’s autograph, a panel on autism in anime fandom, and the voice actor roundtable panel, all of which i really wanted. so after finally getting up at 2:30pm i spent the rest of the day super depressed and mad at myself and just sad and disappointed.

the end.

[amyrizz]

2017

A Late Snow Day Reflection on 2017. I didn’t want to put this on my facebook, twitter on instagram where a lot of people follow me so here we go, a tiny bit more private. 

2017 Definitely had its ups and downs. I had some really good days, some really shitty days and some okay days. My Mental Health and anxiety weren’t fantastic. I left my therapist in February planning on finding a new one ASAP but I never did. 2018 I plan on finding a new therapist sooner and hopefully find one that clicks with me better. I experienced some new challenges at my job. I love my job but man it’s been harder this year. I have been tested at my job and it’s been making me question things a lot more than I did before than I started in 2015. I still figuring those things out in this school year(since i’m a para) and hopefully they will be figured out when the school year ends in June. I learned that money is a huge problem for me. I am not very good with money and I definitely need to figure out a way to make more money, spend less and save more. I definitely need to also learn how to save for big events that I really want to attend so that when they come up I’m not struggling to figure out how to afford them.(Long weekend cons and traveling mostly). I learned that a lot more things make me emotional than they used to and that’s okay but it’s just a bit newer and different for me to handle. (Hopefully a new therapist can help with that). I learned that I REALLY have a tough time with change(of any kind) but that sometimes it’s necessary. I learned that time is so fucking precious. You really have no idea how much longer you have left with people, animals, where you’re living, etc( all kinds of things). I’m not just talking about deaths but also friendships ending, people moving away, etc. 

 I gained a lot more confidence with my singing voice. I have been singing my whole life but I used to be really shy and more nervous about singing in front of people by myself. I got to have some vocal lessons and a workshop from two Broadway Actors, Jeremy Jordan and  James Snyder, who I look up to. Jeremy Jordan, my favorite Broadway Actor of all time, actually told me that I have a Very Nice Voice. That was a HUGE confidence booster and special moment for me.  I also returned to the stage in July, first time since college,  and got my own solo song in the show. It had been a dream of mine for almost 20 years to have my own solo song in a show and it finally happened. I gained SO much confidence from that show. It was an amazing experience for me. I really developed a strong bond to the Supernatural Family. I am in it for life now! My friends who I met at SPN Con in 2016 and I gained even closer in 2017. I talk to a few one of them every day. I also met some of my SPN Family in person who I have been talking to online for a while at SPN Con in September. And of course I met totally new people who are fucking amazing people as well. Speaking of Supernatural, I learned that some things are worth waiting for even if it’s for a REALLY Long time. (waiting for cons are AWFUL but always worth it). I learned that being selfish is okay in certain circumstances. Your mental health and taking care of yourself is so fucking important. And you don’t need to say sorry for your feelings, those are not something you should be apologizing for. I’m still catching myself for say sorry about my feelings but I’m trying to correct it every-time it happens since it’s been a habit for so long. I learned that being on my phone and social media all the time isn’t extremely mentally healthy and it’s been affecting so many of my relationships. I learned that if you are in a negative environment do whatever you can to ignore it and escape it if you can. That whining and complaining is not attractive, just like it’s not with the preschoolers I teach. 

Here’s more of a breakdown now of my 2017 by month and numbers:

January 2017:

15th- Matt and I went on a staycation to Rye Brook, NY over MLK weekend even though I was getting over the stomach bug. 

20th- I FINALLY saw Waitress with my friend Tara. I even got to see Jessie Mueller before she left. It was incredible and extremely emotional.

26th-29th- Broadway Con weekend Year 2 with Nicole! I got to meet James Monroe Igleheart and Adam Jacobs after seeing Aladdin. I got amazing photos with Ben Cameron and Anthony Rapp. I learned how to do musical improv. I met amazing friends, stalked Darren Criss and many other amazing memories!

February 2017:

4th- FINALLY saw Dear Evan Hansen with my family. Holy shit Ben Platt is a god, that is all. I sobbed throughout most of the show.

6th- Saw Lacey Sturm’s solo show also with Stitched up Heart. It was an incredible show and worth it staying up late on a Monday and going into work the next day :P

10th-12th- Surprise trip from Matt to go to Providence, Rhode Island. We saw my favorite play on tour, The  Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which was amazing to see again. We went to another favorite of mine, the Bodies Exhibit, which was fucking amazing and so cool again! We went to Monster Mini Golf, which Matt introduced me too, and had a blast. We watched the Grammy’s. And we met up with my Grandma in the snow to have lunch. 

13th- Had an online Galentines Day Celebration with Ashley, Rose and Tessy. We made waffles and watched the Galentines Day episodes together on Rabbit. Matt also surprised me with a celebration dessert for my half birthday. 

18th- Saw Newsies the movie, Jeremy Jordan version, with Rachel, Nicole, Matt and Rachel’s boyfriend in New York City. TONS of fangirling was involved! 

19th- Met up with Audrey in Trumbull. We hung out for the first time since meeting at SPN con 2016. We went to the Trumbull Mall and went to a trampoline park.

26th- Yearly  Watch the Oscars with Matt. 

March 2017

8th- Saw Amaranthe’s headlining tour in NYC with Matt and Veronica. I also fell in love with their openers, Citizen Zero and Smash into Pieces. Totally worth also going on a Wednesday and then going to work the next day :P

18th- Saw Amelie with Nicole. Phillipa Soo and Adam Chanler Berat were awesome! We also bought last minute tickets to see Phantom of the Opera at the box office and got box seats! It was super spontaneous and fun! 

23rd-Saw Enter Shikari’s headlining tour in NYC with Veronica and Matt. My 3rd or 4th time seeing Enter Shikari live, they’re always fun and crazy too :P

25th- FINALLY saw HAMILTON after  buying tickets nine and a half months in advance. Taran Killam was hysterical as King George.  Matt and I went to Ninja NY after to eat, it had been a long time since we had been there too. 

April 2017: 

1st- Saw Chanticleer in Westport with Matt :)

7th-10th- Went to Boston with Alec, Nishant and Matt. Nishant got his first pedicure with me. Nishant and I drove the boat on the duck tour. Had a blast at the Edward Kennedy Museum. Stayed in an Air B and B for the first time( 2 actually), sleepover!

10th- Won the Lottery to see In Transit for the second time. I found out at the stagedoor that they had announced closing for that weekend before our show started :(

12th- Met Christian for the first time when we went to see Your Name together with Matt, Keela and Brendan. 

15th- Spontaneous trip to New Jersey with Matt. We had really good food on the water front and played mini golf. 

19th- Won the Lottery to see Groundhog Day, even though Andy Karl was not in it. Fell in love with the show. Worth going on a weeknight :P

21st- Had a Voice Lesson with Eliana from Leave’s Eyes before their show. Nishant cooked us a meal in his apartment, so proud of him. Saw Sabaton’s headlining tour with Leave’s Eyes opening for them. 

29th- Saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway with Matt. 

May 2017

1st- Reunited with my cousin Bobby years later and met his wife and daughter for the first time. 

9th- Saw my favorite band The Classic Crime after waiting a REALLY long time to see them live again. I also took a very nice and deserved personal day.

15th- Broadway Bakes at Schmackary’s and saw Jeremy Jordan preform in a Classic Stage Company Benefit Song at Lincoln Center. 

21st- My Baby Sister Graduates from College!

25th-29th-  Visited Ashley in Brockport, NY with Abby for Memorial Day weekend. Went in the Lockport Caves where they had a boat ride inside! Ashley got her first professional pedicure with me. We went go karting, garbage plates, dave and busters, RIC roc fest, etc.

June 2017

4th- Did my second annual Kidney Walk with Matt in Hamden, CT. Nishant came to CT for dinner later that night. 

6th- Finally Met Donny for the first time. Me, Christian, Matt and Donny had dinner at Bar Taco. I met my spirit animal :)

9th-11th- Anniversary trip to Shelton, CT. Went to Pride in the Park in Norwalk. We rode the waterslide in our hotel so much! We found a really cool sports arcade where we played mini golf and arcade games. Also the Tony’s were this weekend too!

25th- NYC Gay Pride Parade with Amy. And did a workshop with JEREMY JORDAN where he told me that “You have a very nice voice”. I later had dinner with my Uncle. 

July 2017

2nd- I took Audrey to her first broadway show, Chicago, Then we saw The Station Breaks in NYC. 

11th- Lost my sweet, sweet guinea pig Coco Bean Marie :(

14th-15th- Returned to the stage in Perfect the Cabaret at the Carriage House Theatre. :)

23rd- Saw Korn, Stone Sour and Skillet in Hartford, CT with Matt, Brendan and Shute. 

25th- Saw Citizen Zero’s first headlining tour in NYC with Matt.

27th- Matt and our first wedding of the year. Jay’s wedding in NJ. Stayed over with Jamel and Pat, sleepover and a gorgeous hotel. We had a BLAST at this wedding!

28th- Explored NJ with Matt, Jamel and Pat. 

29th- Vocal Few’s Living Room Tour in  NYC with Matt. 

August 2017:

3rd- Broadway in Bryant Park with Nicole. Found a Sing a long in Byrant Park after. 

5th- GISHWHES starts, my first time!

10th- Broadway in Bryant Park with Nicole and Danielle. Sing a long in Bryant Park. Saw Bandstand. 

11th- Breaking Bad RV Bar with Matt in Brooklyn.

13th- My 27th Birthday. Went to Medieval Times for the first time to celebrate my birthday with Matt, Veronica, Christian, Pat and Kate. Had a fucking blast!

19th-20th- Flame Con in NYC, first time. I also went to 54 below for the first time to see Jeremy Jordan preform! He recognized me too, oh boy:P 

22nd-26th- Summer Vacation to Seattle with Matt for our first time. Went to a Cat Cafe for the first time. I also did a yoga class in the cat cafe. Went to the top of the space needle. Museum of Pop Culture. Amazon Bookstore. Saw Idina Menzel in concert. Kerry Park. Went to the first Starbucks store ever. Rode on a monorail. Gum Wall. Museum of Science where we saw Terracotta Warriors. 

September 2017:

1st- Saw Flamingos at the Maritime Aquarium with Matt and Brendan

9th- The Play that Goes Wrong with Matt followed by Groundhog Day, which i won the lottery for again. I finally got to see Andy Karl in Groundhog Day.

17th- Saw Miss Saigon with Nicole. I couldn’t stop sobbing at this show. Fell in love with Eva Noblezada and I got to meet her too after.

21st-24th- SUPERNATURAL CON in New Jersey, FINALLY! Met Thor the Impala. Met Ruth and got to ask her a question at her panel. Got a shower cap from Ruth and a hug after. Won the lottery to ask Jared and Jensen a question. Got to ask Misha a question when he did a last minute panel. Saw Jensen sing at Saturday Night Special. 

29th- Alec visits! Went to the View taping with him and Nishant. Met Adam Scott after he taped on the show. Epica/Lacuna Coil show with Alec, Matt and Veronica.

30th- Walked the Brooklyn Bridge at night with Alec and Nishant. went to the MET museum with Alec. 

October 2017:

1st- saw  A Bronx Tale with Alec and Nishant

7th- New York Comic Con with Nii, Matt and Christian. Met Robbie Thompson :)

8th- Elsie Fest with Nicole. Got a beautiful photo with Darren Criss before.

14th- Scott’s birthday celebration with Rebecca and Kate. Went to see Rags at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT.

19th-22nd- Gilmore Girls Fan Festival in Kent, CT. Audrey also came over the day before to watch the SPN episode with me. Got a Jet Tub in my room. stress tap dancing class. Todd Lowe preformed with his guitar for us. Coffee Monologues. Face timed with Lauren Graham.

26th- Rocky Horror at Avon Theatre with Matt and Rob.

28th- Brian and Ashley’s wedding in Long island, City. Our hotel had a beautiful rooftop view. 

November 2017:

2nd- Saw A Perfect Circle with Matt at Barclays Center in Brooklyn

3rd- Tom and Stephanie’s wedding in Long Island.

10th- Finally saw Evanescence with Veronica and Matt in Brooklyn.

18th- Anime NYC with Nii, Matt, Brendan, Christian, Pat and Jamel. First year ever. cosplayed as L from Death Note. Sleepover at an Air B and B in Weehawken, NJ.

22nd- Macy’s Balloons with Nicole. Saw Kinky Boots with OBC members Stark Sands and Billy Porter.

29th- Saw Anastasia with Matt, Rob and Ashley

December 2017:

1st- Chanticleer in NYC with Matt

2nd- Trumbull Mall, Matching Leggings, Milkcraft and Wonderland at Roseville with Chris and Audrey :) First time hanging out with Chris outside of Con!

10th- NYC- Museum of Natural History with Nicole and Matt to see Mummies! Beautiful with Nicole to see Kara Lindsay. James Barbour’s Christmas Show with Kate at Birdland.

17th- First Annual Darien Carols by Candlelight. Such a magical and special time.

23rd- NYC Tourist Adventure with Matt to see Bryant Park, Rockefellar Tree, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and Saxs Fifth Avenue. 

24th- Brunch at Greenwich Hyatt with Matt and his Mom. Christmas house adventure in the hail to a Milford house and Wonderland at Roseville.

31st- Shute’s house to celebrate with Pat and Matt before they move away :(

Summing everything up:

I traveled to:

1.) Providence, Rhode Island

2.) Boston, Massachusetts

3.) New Jersey- various towns

4.) Brockport, NY/Rochester, NY

5.) Seattle, Washington

6.) Kent, CT

7.) Shelton, CT

Shows I worked on:

1.) Baby at DAC

2.) Sylvia at DAC

3.) Perfect Cabaret with Lipstick Project

Shows I saw on Broadway:

1.) Waitress

2.) Aladdin(second time)

3.) Dear Evan Hansen

4.) Amelie

5.) Phantom of the Opera(not the first time)

6.) In Transit(second time)

7.) Groundhog Day(saw it twice!)

8.) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

9.) Chicago(second time)

10.) Bandstand

11.) The Play that Goes Wrong

12.) Miss Saigon

13.) A Bronx Tale

14.) Anastasia

15.) Beautiful

16.) Kinky Boots(second time)

Concerts I saw: 1.) Lacey Sturm/Stitched up Heart- NYC

2.) Amaranthe/Citizen Zero- NYC

3.) Enter Shikari- NYC

4.) Chanticleer(saw them twice!)- NYC and Westport, CT

5.) Sabaton/Leave’s Eyes- NYC

6.) The Classic Crime- Hamden, CT

7.) The Station Breaks- NYC

8.) Stone Sour, Skillet and Korn- Hartford, CT

9.) Citizen Zero- NYC

10.) Vocal Few- NYC

11.) Idina Menzel- Washington

12.) Epica/Lacuna Coil- NYC

13.) Elsie Fest- NYC

14.) A Perfect Circle- Brooklyn, NY

15.) Evanesence- Brooklyn, NY

I went to 3 weddings: Jay, Tom and Stephanie’s and Ashley and Brian’s

Conventions I went to:

1.) Broadway Con- January 2017 in NYC

2.) Flame Con- August 2017 in NYC

3.) Supernatural Con- September 2017 in NJ

4.) New York Comic Con October 2017

5.) Gilmore Girls Fan Festival October 2017

6.) Anime NYC November 2017

Here’s to 2018 I cannot wait! :)