#ftr in university (surface) he was like. juggling MULTIPLE degrees bc he is simply insane.

[the-ashenstreaked-doctor]

Hello! I was trying to write up a calling card from Jules/The Partial Performer, but I'm not sure what they and Doc might have in common- that being said, this is now an excuse to ask if he has any strong opinions on theatre in general or in the Neath!

Hello! Let’s see.. On the surface, Doc’s experience with theatre was pretty nonexistent. When he was younger, his parents didn’t really bother with the arts much- besides, seeing plays and operas/operettas and ballets was a waste of money (in their eyes) which would be better spent on supplies or saved up for the future. The Doctor never really agreed with them on that front (as he rarely did anyway), but he didn’t control the finances.

The first (and likely only) time he’d ever seen anything in theatre was 1874, during his schooling, when he was invited by some of his higher-class friends to accompany them to Vienna. There, he saw Die Fledermaus’s premiere; he can’t remember much of it musically, nowadays, but he recalls being highly amused by the sheer amount of antics at play in the plot. Sadly, that would be the only thing he’d get to watch in theatre until coming to the Neath- he quickly grew too busy with school, and then life. He just didn’t have the time to see more, nor the immediate need. Not to say he hated theatre! He definitely respected the arts and wished he had more time to watch things! He just.. got busy. Really busy.

In the Neath, however, he quickly grew to find interest in theatre- every so often, he takes a break from work to see some play or symphony. Now that he’s found a footing in high society (and made an acquaintance of a rather affectionate devil…), he frequents the theatre more often than he ever did before.

He even penned his own tragic play for the Empress’ court! Forced to make a 14 act play by the ones who employed him, Doc decided to work around that by making a splitting narrative… A tale of two lovers, torn between the surface and the Neath… The acts are split between both mains, with the Neath lover trying to return to the surface while the Surface lover tries in vain to move on (while still hoping their lover returns…)