#but i can dm a photo from the website upon request because truly my words do not do the experience of this man justice.

[belle--ofthebrawl]

Hiya 💚

Just popping by off anon today to say I hope you’re having a good weekend. What’s something that’s made you smile recently? Have you been watered, fed, and provided some sunlight today?

You’re amazing, don’t forget that 🤘

I'm having a little snack of some fruit and toast before I go to bed. Usually I have some valerian tea as well but I'm coming off a flareup and strong valerian tea can cause stomach pains which I'm not interested in experiencing again anytime soon. Woe is me and my "mysterious illness" that I can easily avoid by eating foods that do not trigger symptoms. Tragically, I work downwind of a food court on the weekends and the smell of roasted meat, baking bread and deep fried whatever calls to me like a siren. Hard to believe I used to be afraid to eat anything!

I have lots of reasons to smile lately. My new job is going to take up more time but that's alright because this is a place I really want to believe in. I've had a friend working there for a year and she's loved it so I finally jumped ship. I like what they do and I like what they pay. It's a job I want to improve myself for and be the best I can be, since my last place had me clawing at the walls in despair of all the bullshit and regulation breaking that went on. I'm really pissed at that place, can you tell? And working at the Faire on the weekends is always fun. I'm always smiling there and it's a genuine smile. So let me tell you a story about something that happened today. It's about a man in a boat and a peep show.

(Don't worry. It's safe for work.)

It starts at the end of the day. For any not yet aware, I work at a Renaissance Faire. I'm comfortable disclosing this because I don't live anywhere near the faire, it's thirty acres of land and my shop is known for other things besides what I've talked about here. I use a different name there, too. There are three jousts at the fair, with the final one taking place at around 5:30 ish. So the streets of the little town were fairly empty save for a few dozen or so patrons, the Fantastikals (fairies) and one very special independent performer.

My assistant manager calls me over to the door with a grin. I come out from behind my counter to see what she wants and she points to this very special performer. "Ask him for the peep show". She tells me with a grin and because I'm down for anything at the Faire, I leave my shop to where this man is standing, in the shadows stretched long across the roads.

Words can not describe the experience of meeting him but I'm going to try. You heard him before you saw him, because he had a cleverly hidden speaker playing Italian opera. Classical music? Something masculine and passionate and bellowing. He wore black tights and shoes. His frilly shirt may have been yellow. He wore a perfect painted circle of white outlined in blue on his face and there was a pin that said "Yes, I work here!" on his shirt. There was a hat and finer details to his makeup but they all escape me because the man was also a boat. Or, in the middle of one. Jutting out four feet from his front and four feet behind was a gondola. There must be a harness of some kind under his shirt to help keep it up. Because in the gondola were buildings. Anywhere from a foot to eighteen inches tall. Think of Venice. Think of beautiful towers and elegant façades.

The man was a city.

In a boat.

I asked him for the peep show.

"Ah, my dear." He said, a twinkle in his eyes. "You're in for a real treat."

He directed me to a certain building on his other side. As I rounded him, I made eye contact with a little harlequin puppet placidly rowing the boat. It may have winked at me. I went to the building and noticed an open window. Putting my eye to it, do you know what I saw?

Two candy peeps on a platform, staring serenely back at me. I told him I loved it and he smiled.

"Sometimes people are nervous. They think I might scare them or poke them. But this is the level we're at here, my friend."

His other buildings had windows too. The tallest had several with cleverly angled mirrors so that the person looking in the bottom would see the person looking on top and vice versa. Another one, an opera house where your reflection was on stage. So many others, but I can't remember them! I was also still in character and interacting with patrons and very much still on the clock. But again, end of the day. My boss was very forgiving.

People like him are the reason I love the Faire so much. My hometown had one and the childhood memories of visiting are so clear and vivid it's like I could open a door and step back into it. I danced with the Queen, you know. She looked like one of my teachers, but I'll never be sure.

It's nice to keep the spirit going. Thank you for spreading positivity, Mr. Barnes. A good example for the fandom to follow 🩵. I hope your weekend is going as amazing as you are.