#i am not a theater expert

[palmtreepalmtree]

Neither of us loved the show (The Girl from the North Country). We both agreed the performances were great but the show itself was a bit of a jumble. The music didn't seem to connect well. My companion thinks she would have liked the show without the music. I think I would have liked the show without the play. Clearly, the things didn't go together.

In terms of Dylan, it made me want to watch I'm Not There again, which I really loved when I saw it in the theater. Might see if I can find it somewhere.

[grunklestanofficial]

And also Sally, let’s talk about Sally in this update. I am staring heavily at @friendlyfrankenstein for the decision to make her costume an archetype in the Commedia dell'arte, and the potential foreshadowing that comes from her choice in character. Delving into information on what role Pedrolino typically plays in a performance, they’re a stock character of a lower class servant- though the sources I’m reading seem like they have some conflicting idea on the behavior connected to it? Typically they tend to be the butt of the joke in things (though they personally never seem to lose any sense of personal dignity from it- something that parallels with Sally’s performances not going to plan due to Neighborhood Shenanigan) but they could also be considered the “go-between” for the other characters and someone whose actions help to keep the plot moving. Again, Sally’s scary story establishes in lore that the Neighbors don’t  go outside at night, and think there might be a monster also fitting into that story role.

But despite the comic relief it also seems like Pedrolino can play clever roles within the stories as well, like in terms of setting up zany plots to help get lovers together or to fuck with people. Another aspect of Pedrolino is that they're romantically devoted to the character Columbina- which I would maybe parallel with Poppy, more for Colmbina's aspect as the straight man than her flirtatious and bold behavior. So possibly all of this might mean is maybe Sally is going to be the one that gets Neighbors noticing that the things around them are getting kind of funky? And possibly she might be the main vessel that Playfellows Workshop uses to insist that Frank and Julie are Very Straight based on the lovers thing. But y'know I think it also implies a general theme around Sally's character, where she feels that she has an important role to play, but in the greater meta-textual context is more of a joke.

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

I am going to attempt to describe a phenomenon that I think will be familiar to you and I want to try to give it a name.

It is a style of writing that has taken shape over the course of our time on this platform, a product perhaps of our high proportion of theater/art kids and the capacity of the platform to support longform text.

I'm going to propose the name "tumblr gothic" for what is, I think, a distinctive writing style. This is the melodramatic register tumblr uses when it wants to convey to you how serious, how scary, how truly horrifying something is. It uses a lot language like "no wait" and "you don't understand," describing in the purplest prose how seriously you need to take [thing]. [Thing] can be the latest natural disaster, the latest illness, the latest fire, the latest protest, the latest movement, the latest government misdeed, but whatever it is, nobody is talking about [thing], and nobody knows just how serious [thing] is. Often two or three or five people will chime in. At least one will be an expert, one will be a first- or secondhand witness, all will write in exactly the same register.

tumblr gothic.

[mothmans-side-ho]

Armand called Lestat a clown in the most round about way

s2e3 hot wired the two passions in my brain into this info dump, however seeing as a central theme of this episode (and the season) is power, status, and their subversions, it seems relevant. for context, I have 2 degrees in theatre, specifically theatre history and how trends effect form. (I am in no way an expert though, and this is very simplified). long story short, I'm relishing in being a big ol nerd about this entire season

FINALLY, we got to see Lestat (a version of) strutting his stuff on stage in a scene with peak commedia dell'arte shenanigans. Commedia dell'arte is/was an originally Italian form of theatre which was defined by lazzi (comedic bits), improv, and stock characters. these stock characters have been around from Roman times and are still super familiar to us today - the young lovers, the pervy old rich man, the soldier with bravado, etc. It's been seen as a somewhat formulaic form of theatre which relied on quickly identifiable characters and situations so audiences can sit back and enjoy the butt jokes and servant beatings.

In the book - specifically The Vampire Lestat - our beloved Lestat RELISHES in playing a character called Lelio, one of the young lovers. It is in playing Lelio that he "found a tongue for verses and wit [he]'d never had in life" (TVL pg 31). It is in playing Lelio that Lestat first gets a taste of the person he can become, and it is in Lelio that we see the first glimpses of the Lestat which so fully seduces Louis. In short, Lestat casts himself as the suave and handsome romantic protagonist, here to sweep people off their feet. The young lovers are also notably some of the only roles portrayed without masks, to emphasize their youth and natural beauty.

SO IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN LESTAT SHOWS UP IN S2E3 DRESSED LIKE THIS:

He has a half mask! He's wearing all sorts of colors! He's clearly acting as a go between between two other characters who seem to be of a higher status than him! As I said before, commedia dell'arte can be very formulaic (especially by the late 1700s when it is being codified away from being improv focused to being cemented into scripts). From all of these visual and characterization clues, Lestat is not playing Lelio the young lover, he's playing a Harlequin! And his costume seems to be heavily based off of this Harlequin (Arlecchino, Arlecino, etc.) which is literally the wikipedia image of a Harlequin.

(note, if you give a fuck, this image is depicting an Arlechino from 1671, roughly 125 years before Lestat on stage. in my mind, this accounts for the changes in silhouette, styling, why Lestat doesn't wear the mask for the entirety of the performance, etc. Also, just while we're talking about costuming, I believe the late 18th Century was still a time in which actors would have been expected to provide their own costumes, which would explain why Lestat's version is made with expensive fabrics and includes cunty little details like the bow in his hair. At the very least, I can see him making looking good a priority as the owner of the theater and as...well...Lestat.)

Okay, okay, okay. Why does this matter?

Harlequins are not characters of any social status. They're servants who are quick witted enough to get into antics but stupid enough to be commanded by animalistic instincts (lust, food, you name it). The Harlequin being beaten by their master was ENORMOUSLY funny, and is the origin of the term "slapstick comedy". They a memorable iteration of clown.

In this scene, which I'm willing to bet was inspired by (if not outright) Carlo Goldoni's A Servant of Two Masters, Lestat plays a servant who interacts with two characters. One appears to be a young woman in a breeches part - another common trope of commedia performance. The other appears to be the young male lover! We see Lestat prancing between the two, seemingly facilitating some romance plot, being paid for his compliance, and doing a good ol fashioned butt lazzi. (Could he be presenting his ass for beating? Maybe.)

So why is Lestat not the young valiant lover, but instead A LITERAL CLOWN? Three potential, not conflicting, reasons. By the time Lestat is performing (mid to late 1790s, based off Armand's earlier comment about Robespierre's 1794 execution), the Harlequin characters were the most sought after roles! At this time, we are seeing the emergence of "Celebrity Culture" where audiences sought out actors for their off-stage personalities as much as their on-stage ones. This is an extremely fitting position for Lestat to fall into. Yay a semblance of historical accuracy!

Secondly, Lestat's ENTIRE ROLE in season two is to come between this season's new pair of young(ish) lovers: Louis & Armand. Lestat's function is to repeatedly detract and distract from their relationship through Dreamstat's antics (appearing at the piano calling Louis a whore, having Louis re-kill him, etc.). Additionally, simply put, Lestat (and Sam Reid as Lestat) is a lot of fun to watch. He is absolutely a stand out (if not THE stand out) of the show! His constant ability to serve cunt is often what your eye is drawn to, he pulls focus to himself, and often undercuts the more subdued, philosophical, and morose nature of others. Both on-stage and on-screen, Lestat continuously upstages his screen partners. He does kinda function as a Harlequin. But in the end, the Harlequin's antics are also what ultimately drive the young lovers together. If not for Lestat's actions, Louis and Armand would have never met nor bonded over knowing this fucked up brat prince.

But we also have to remember! This portion of the episode is presented by Armand the mind fuckery master. It is absolutely in his best interests to paint Lestat as some sort of ridiculous, lesser being driven by animalistic nature. Especially if - by extension of the metaphor - this frames he and Louis as the virtuous and optimistic young lovers, striving to cling to each other in a world of chaos. I would be EXTREMELY interested to see if, when recollected by someone else, Lestat appears in a different role or characterized differently.

Again, given the celebrity culture of the time and Lestat being himself, it is entirely believable that he would appear in the Harlequin role (Truffaldino, if this is Goldoni's Servant). However, I think it's extremely telling that in Armand's iteration of the story Lestat is not the dignified, refined, and sympathetic young romantic. He is instead a literal fucking clown.

[do-angels-dream-of-starry-seas]

Back years ago, when Mark was on a couple talk shows, the hosts clearly had no idea what he did and just assumed he was "an expert video game guy", and Mark looked so pissed off at their judgmental and sometimes sexist comments

And recently, when Mark's In Space With Markiplier was nominated for the Emmys, Mark said how it was a miserable time cause nobody knew who he was and nobody cared to know what he did

I am. So. Fucking. Excited. For Iron Lung to make it in theaters and sweep the box office and the film industry has to start respecting indie filmmakers that stemmed from internet fame

[nicoleshifting]

my walking dead alexandria dr

here's a little introduction to this dr, which is currently my main focus when shifting! I have partially shifted to this dr countless times.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

about me:

name: nicole blackwell

age: 24

s/o's: rick grimes and daryl dixon

my closest friends (other than rick and daryl) are rosita, sasha, maggie, and carol, but I pretty much get along with everyone in our group.

in general I have become quite an expert on array of weapons but my strong suit in this dr is being a sharp shooter.

some songs I associate with this dr:

✩champagne coast- blood orange

✩no. 1 party anthem- the arctic monkeys

✩kiss it better- rihanna

✩anything- adrianne leaker

✩BODYGUARD- beyoncé

(tw for suicide mentions)

background info:

prior to the apocalypse, I was in college majoring in creative writing and minoring in theater. during my senior year of college, my mental health took a major plummet and I found myself in the worst mental state I had ever been, struggling with the thought of what to do after graduation, trying to work a low-paying job, and already crippled by student loan debt.

when the apocalypse broke out, I was in an inpatient facility recovering from an attempt on my own life. (my mental health is something I have struggled with for a good portion of my life in both this dr and in my cr, and this was not something I had scripted into this dr, but something I found out about this reality via channeling. this is not something I take lightly/would script in randomly. this is something that is very relevant to my experience in my cr so that's all I will really say about that)

my survival instinct has kicked into overdrive in this new landscape I have found myself in, and though this world presents its own unique challenges as opposed to life before, it is a world I find myself thriving in more than ever before.

I started off with my family at the beginning of everything breaking out, but don't know what ended up happening to them. (this was something I learned via channeling) I then drifted between random groups of people and often found myself on my own for a while. I end up making my way to the prison that rick and the group had made a home in and am nearly at the end of the road myself as I find myself exhausted, injured, and struggling to even stand. daryl finds me in the woods outside the prison and ends up bringing me in, advocating for the group to aid me.

with reluctance, they do- under the pretense that I'll be hitting the road as soon as I'm better (spoiler alert- I'm not going anywhere).

some small canon divergences if anyone is curious: rick has no kids in this reality, tyrese is still alive and so is hershel (and he never lost a leg). in general, walkers are not very strong and relatively easy to overpower and have no strong smell (otherwise I think I would be blacking out from the stench). also negan/the saviors are nonexistent.

upon first shifting to this reality, it's the first day we have arrived in alexandria and are still adjusting to the community.

I feel like that's all the pertinent information for now. as I receive more information via downloads/channeling that I have an interest in sharing/feel comfortable sharing I will update this! (also as I continue to shift to this reality this may be updated as well lol).

[nothingenoughao3]

So y'all know how Jeff Combs was doing a theater production which someone involved with Re-Animator saw him in, and how he's suggested that the character he played there influenced how he played Herbert West.

I relayed this to @andalusiapunk and they were like "Oh! That explains it! He's theater-acting!"

I am not an expert by any means, but I did misspend my teenage years in a magnet school as a theater student. I understood immediately what they meant by theater-acting and I'm mad I didn't come up with it.

A lot of this has to do with Herbert's overall physicality. We all love talking about how he's hyper-dramatic, right? How he moves in a particular way that is extremely precise and sharp and, to be on point, theatrical. How he spins the tape recorder in his hand; how he offers Meg's heart in BRIDE; how he fumbles or manipulates syringes in various scenes.

None of that's in the script and it's not necessarily justified by what's happening... unless you're trying to make sure the audience in the backass end of the theater can see you're holding something small, like a tape recorder or a syringe or a human heart. As I observed elsewhere, you can trick the audience into 'seeing' or 'hearing' things that aren't present onstage or screen if your body language insists on its reality.

And, not to get into super-nerdy film history, but: originally theater-acting and movie-acting were one and the same. Early films are blocked like plays, they have extended sequences without constant cutting between shots (like an audience watching a play), and the extremely clear, over-enunciation of a play-actor trying to make sure those poor bastards in the back can hear what they're saying. And like a play, all acting was heavily rehearsed and expected to hit the same points and produce the same results every time.

What changed this was Marlon Brando introducing the idea of improvisation into movie-acting, a choice which also led to a greater flexibility in movie-acting... including delivery of lines. A more "natural", verisimilitudinous delivery became acceptable for films. This doesn't make either style bad, to be clear: each serves its purpose.

Bruce Abbott (to name the most obvious example) is doing movie-acting. He's got some Protagonist Accent going for him, but he has a clear variety of tone and a great deal of subtlety with his facial expressions and delivery. The same goes for the rest of the cast, although David Gale kind of straddles the line between these two styles.

Herbert's delivery is pure theater-acting. When he and Dan invade the morgue, Dan is whispering--but Herbert is stage whispering, which is why he hisses so much. I've made jokes on here before about how Herbert was born on Skid Row in Little Shop of Horrors-verse, and he thinks he's supposed to be in a musical... and, you know, LSOH is a film based on a play, only in that movie, EVERYBODY is theater-acting.

Anyhow, lotta words to find a different way to compliment Combs and the rest of the REANI cast on their acting, because I live for sorcery enjoying these damn movies.

[hypnautic-cereal]

Delle Ivory ref sheet✨

(As well as some headcanons about her)

💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨

💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨💜✨

The top half of her hair is just Eddie’s natural hair without any glue used to hold his hair up

The rest of her hair is just extensions, but that’s a secret no one in the neighborhood knows

Despite looking physically similar to our beloved mailman, no one (aside from Frank) is able to tell that it’s Eddie under all the glitz and glam

Eddie in this persona raises his pitch up higher and puts more Tennessean twang into his accent, making Delle sound very close to Dolly Parton

Delle Ivory’s name is play on words with the word “delivery” (try saying her name five times fast and you’ll see what I mean)

The dress, sparkling boa, and whatever Eddie props uses whenever he’s in drag are unused or leftover stuff from Sally and her theater

Girl would’ve loved cuntry music😔💜

This is all just my interpretation of Eddie’s drag persona

If you have anything different in your head, please tell me because I am always up for discussion on drag! I’m no expert, I’m just starting to get more into it, but I absolutely am so willing to talk about anyone’s own ideas for this!

[katerinaaqu]

May I ask what's wrong with changing modern adaptations of ancient stories to fit the morality of today? The way I see it, it's hard to connect with the characters portrayed when every second one is a rapist of some kind.

Stories adhering as much as they can will never be as popular or appreciated as ones modified to be engaging to the audience they have now.

Stories are meant to entertain, and the audience they were originally made for is dead. What the audience finds entertaining changes in decades. Does it not make sense to adapt them to that?

You answered your question yourself. By placing modern day morality and fitting it to ancient stories we just twist the original stories and their meaning and we create a false idea of the past to make it sound as if that place was consisted of people who were terrible they had no Morals at all and nowadays we are the great moral people that know what's up.

You said it yourself: "when every second one was a rapist of some kind". That is just false assumption on both the characters and the past. In fact rape was severely punished. Even in the Epic Cycle when Locrian Ajax raped Cassandra the soldiers were trying to stone him to death and he had to take refuge to a sanctuary. Him being a noble didn't matter before such an immoral act. Rape was not casual as "modern morality readings" think. There is a big risk of misunderstanding when we project our morality in ancient stories which were not always THAT far away from us at some things.

At another case I have heard people speak of "gay ancient greece" when the concept of "gay" didn't even exist and not only that homosexiality had a much more complicated meaning in antiquity than we think now and no it was not a bunch of people kissing their partners in public as many people do in 21st century. Again there is a danger to misunderstand stuff and they do get misunderstood

Modern day morality changes by experience of mine never realize the harm they do to the narrative and character development (for example Odysseus giving out his name to Polyphemus has nothing to do with modern narrative saying "oh he was stupid" there is an entire analysis behind it which just harms the character and his development by bluntly say that without taking the background in consideration)

Changing stuff to ellegedly "fit modern narrative" is inheritently dangerous because it contains personal biases on what morality is in the first place and it is harmful often because these stories are far from just entertainment; they are witness of the past and a past culture and by changing them according to the bias of one person on modern morality consequently leads to the misinterpretation of the past. And in the end of the day ancient stories are still entertaining today. Look at the festivals in Greece where we play ancient theater as it was written. We have only changed the concept of the full face mask. So allow me to disagree and say the ancient stories still entertain today and the admirers of them are not dead at all.

I am not saying it is wrong in every shape or form in fact as I said million times already it is even expected to add some elements from each culture or era to appease the public. The problem begins when that story is exclusively looked through that keyhole and then we have the bias of one person on the text shaping the past and have a story that simply doesn't work and many people even those with no knowledge in the past realize there is something wrong with the picture. See how many people who love the Iliad and the Odyssey criticized Miller for adding too much of her modern morality in her books. Even people who are not experts realized the story was damaged despite her beautiful weiting etc

[onlycosmere]

Questioner: Do you have plans to self-produce your books into movies or TV shows? If Taylor Swift can do it, you can.

Questioner: Oh right, yeah, Taylor Swift. Let's point out, there's a little bit of a difference between a 45 million dollar Kickstarter and a 1.6 billion dollar tour. So, we've talked about this, and I've come to the conclusion that for right now I don't want to try it. There are a couple of reasons for this.

Reason number one is that I like my Kickstarters to have a ton of value in them, right? I always tell my team, I'm like, we have to be giving a lot of value to people on the stuff that they do with our crowdfunding or our Kickstarters. And that means that, of that 45 million dollars, we don't make a lot of that. We're putting most of that into the product, and into the shipping, and into the team, and into the company. And so, if we were to do a crowdfunded movie, we need like a 200 million dollar budget, 150 at the lowest, to do a film. And if I'm going to do that, I would want to be giving people a ton of value which means we'd probably have to raise 450 million, which is just a ridiculous amount to do on a crowdfunding, right? So that's number one.

Number two is, a lot of times, these sort of outsider projects don't work as well in Hollywood as you would hope they would. Taylor Swift was able to do a thing and put it directly in the theaters and whatnot, but what we want is a partner over a long period of time. I want someone like Universal, or Disney, or Warner Brothers, who has a long established reputation to buy in on the cosmere, and make things with me for twenty years, right? I don't want to just do one off, I want to build something over time and I feel like I need a really good partner in the industry to do that.

And you know, reason number three is, a fool and their money is soon parted. I've known too many people who think, yeah I can make a movie. And let's just say that there's a reason why The Room isn't that great, and it's because being good in one area doesn't mean you're good in another. I am really good at narrative. I'm getting good at screenplays, right? I'm getting to the point where I feel confident I could do the screenplays myself. But I can't direct, I can't cinematographize, I don't even know how to make that a verb, right? I can't do casting, I can't do all of these things that experts in their field, and yes, I could start hiring them, but I feel like, never having run a movie before, it would just be a disaster. So you would donate all this money, I would waste it all, because I wouldn't know what I'm doing, and this is how Kickstarters go bad real fast, right? I've only done these things when I know I can deliver, and I do not know I can deliver this for you.

So, for the mean time, I'm going to keep trying to use the standard mechanisms. I feel like, you know like, this year we got frighteningly close. Well, frightening is the wrong term. The frightening part is it didn't work out. But we got really, really close. I saw people on stage, in mistcloaks, acting and reading my lines, okay? Yeah. And then it all fell apart, and it's all dead, right? We got really close, but we're getting closer and closer. And Hollywood is really interested in the Cosmere. They recognize the value of my stories. They've been, for years, saying, we know this is going to come, break out, and it's going to be big someday. But it's all about figuring out how to make it work, and beyond that, Hollywood is kind of on fire right now. And so we're waiting for it to, for someone to put it out. So, regardless, the answer is, I've considered it, and I've discarded it for those reasons, but it's still possibly on the table. It is something that, you know, the awareness of the possibility is in the back of my mind, okay?

[asherlockstudy]

Fanfic theater not as rhinky as were were hoping! I shouldn't be surprised.

Yes it was actually showing from the trailer that this was a purely comedic thing that would not go far.

There are some interesting points to make though, I think:

I suspected this was a marketing ploy and it was, they wanted to attract more MBs (shippers?) to the Mythical Society. This is why they gave most of it free but they kept the last one behind a paywall.

Link was consistently the best actor of the two and the crew’s votes were strategic in order to create a draw that would lead to the next paywall story. Since the voting of the crew was made up, Jordan chimed in to give credit where it really was due. Link could not help himself and asked “you mean I am more committed to this as an actor or I like this more”? Some people including Rhett joked it was because he liked it more which is an answer Link did not approve of but it felt to me that it was not truly because he had to deny liking this but because Rhett’s consistent comparative coldness is pissing him off. It was also a little evident when he challenged the crew for giving their vote to Rhett in the second story: “At what point exactly did he win you over?”

Having said that, the gap in their performances was not as huge this time as other times. Both acted fake uncomfortable. And yet there were also a few moments where some naturalness slipped in, even in Rhett’s case a few times. The accidental little moments of naturalness always felt more real than the pretense to be so very uncomfortable.

Rhett did not deny this is harder for him. But what does this public statement mean? Surely not that it’s harder for him because Link is more into him than he is into Link because that would be an outing of Link, which Rhett would be careful not to do. So he admitted that he has more trouble letting himself go in such a context in front of everyone, regardless if deep inside there is truth in it or not. But given how much he struggles, my bet is on that things are not fake deep inside (let’s not forget he has easily kissed Chase full on the lips).

Some of the things they both looked so awkwardly silly in pretending to find uncomfortable are things they have effortlessly done throughout their career, for example waist groping. Rhett is an expert at this when it is not labeled “fanfic theatre”. They are also experts at doing much worse in their scripted content but they never take those into account somehow.

They said they were seeing this script for the first time but they seemed to expect some of the things Emily did and Jordan said in advance.

Also, why do they keep saying they have made one fanfic episode in GMM? Aren’t they three?

Funny show though! Kept me good company now that I am sick 🤒

[det2x-fanfic-dump]

Teyvat Wonderland

TWISTED WONDERLAND x Genshin Impact Headcanons

This is inspired from the various Tumblr posts about Genshin x TWST

(A/N: THIS IS NOT A FULL STORY but it is written as one)

 Disclaimer: I am just a casual genshin player who don’t read its text lore too much nor an expert of having builds for DPS and such. This headcanon is just based on what I think they would have, idk how DPS, and support characters works)

Summary: What if TWST characters are in the world of Teyvat or the Twisted Wonderland works similarly to the world of Teyvat with their own visions (specific element) and  weapons as if they’re regular civilians in that world or both Teyvat and Twisted Wonderland merged into one.

CHAPTER 0: A TRAVELER FROM ANOTHER WORLD

Let’s say our twisted wonderland cast aren’t students but rather mere civilians living their lives. Yuu is still our isekai protagonist without a vision, Grim is our not floating Paimon who doesn’t fit to be a tour guide and Yuu’s mission is not to find their sibling but rather find a way to go home in their world and by doing that, they need to travel the seven countries/continents to find clues of a way home.

Yuu

Just your Average Traveler

 Rarity: ★★★★★                         Element: None          Weapon: Any(Your Choice)       Attack Type: --

Grim

Tuna loving Companion

 Rarity: ★★★★★                        Element: Pyro        Weapon: Catalyst       Attack Type: Atk Boosting, Healing

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

CHAPTER 1: THE QUEENDOM OF ROSES

This is pretty much like Fontaine. A culture of different sophisticated parties, the home of tea and pastries, the art of theater and the land of justice ruled by the Hydro Archon, Focalors.  Just like in the Twisted Wonderland plot where Yuu first met the Heartslabyul. This is Yuu’s first country to visit.

❤ Ace Trappola ❤

Trickster Knight of Hearts

   Rarity: ★★★★                       Element: Anemo            Weapon: Polearm       Support Type: Atk Boost

Ace Trappola is a rookie soldier in the Queendom under Rosehearts’ platoon. He’s very laid back as a soldier but can be responsible at times when there’s immediate danger or if there’s a senior nearby. He is the very first person Yuu met on their journey. He came across the duo after he got a report of a monster cat stealing a Strawberry tart.

 He caught Grim but Ace had enough temptation to eat it and so he did. Grim complained and Yuu caught the act. Ace, Yuu and Grim formed a mutual alliance to keep it a secret. They had a truce that Ace had to lie to the baker that the monster cat got away and Yuu to not tell anyone that he ate the tart or else his superiors will know.

♠ Deuce Spade♠

Reformed Knight of Cauldrons

   Rarity: ★★★★    Element: Cryo       Weapon: Claymore       Support Type: DPS  or Sub DPS

Deuce Spade is also a rookie card soldier from the Queendom but unlike Ace, he’s a serious soldier who followed the strict laws of the country. He met Yuu and Grim when he caught them talking secretly with Ace in the back alleyway.  He may be one of the enforcers of the law but he did know how the mind of a criminal and a rule breaker works since he was once one of them.

As a former delinquent trying to reform, despite being just a rookie, He’s the bad cop while Ace is the good cop in their partnership. He is capable of interrogation and swearing if he’s in a pissy and angry mood about it, for example if someone caught his nerves. 

Despite his newfound camaraderie with Ace, Yuu and Grim. He really can’t refuse his commander’s orders resulting to him being the one that spilled the beans and reports about the incident.

♦ Cater Diamond♦

Knight of Shuffled Faces

  Rarity: ★★★★

  Element: Water         Weapon: Catalyst       Support Type: Enabling, 

Cater Diamond is Ace and Deuce’s senior in the workforce. He works as a spy for the Queen of Roses with his specialty magic of making multiple doubles of himself. Like Ace, he’s pretty much laid back. He’s someone that you always see at the bar at night having a drink at some party. You would find him tending the rose gardens during his free time.

Cater is the Kaeya of the group. He’s pretty neutral to be honest and once hits on Yuu at their first meeting. When Riddle finds out about the truth about Trey’s stolen tart, he’s the one that helped Ace, Yuu and Grim find fake evidence and gather intel for their supposed innocence. 

♣Trey Clover♣

Knight of Sweet Roses

  Rarity: ★★★★★ in Standard Banner   Element: Dendro          Weapon: Claymore         Support Type: Healing, Battery, DMG-Boosting

Trey Clover is Riddle’s right hand man in the platoon. He’s very approachable and understandable. He’s the only one to calm Riddle down and the mediator between Riddle and his men. For example, the card soldiers would always approach him to file and receive reports instead of going directly to Riddle. 

Even though he’s childhood friends with his commander, he also has his secrets that he kept in regards to his relationship with Riddle. In truth, he really doesn’t want to be part of the Queendom’s military but he did due to his worry for Riddle’s wellbeing. In fact, he has a deep passion for baking.

It was Trey’s family bakery that was involved in Ace’s trial. Although he finds it ridiculous about the simple tart robbery that Ace and Grim got involved in. He was the one that insisted that Yuu would stand up as Ace’s lawyer, although Yuu have any legit credentials for it. With Cater’s help and his connections since he’s so popular,  Cater and Trey assisted Yuu for evidence and credentials in the trial. 

🌹Riddle Rosehearts🌹

Title: Red Rose Sovereign

Rarity: ★★★★★ in Limited Banner   Element: Fire              Weapon : Sword      Support Type: Crowd Control, Debuffing

Riddle Rosehearts is the adopted prince and head commander of the card soldiers for the queen of roses. He is a strict and unapproachable commander who finds difficulty in talking to his peers. The only people he would talk to are his mother, Trey and Cater. He doesn’t mind this since in his ideology, as long as they do things right, that’s what matters.  

Upon hearing the tart incident from Deuce. Even if it was just a common robbery of tarts, Trey’s family wasn’t the one that held the grudge but it was in fact Riddle.

A/N: I would love to read what your takes on this are.

[singemall-stayallnight]

Led Zeppelin's Performance at Seattle's Unusual Green Lake Aqua Theatre

Led Zeppelin at the Green Lake Aqua Theatre, 11 May 1969.

Bonus offstage shot of Robert Plant.

The following excerpts are from an essay on this concert:

It was Led Zeppelin's turn. A supergroup that had risen from the ashes of England's esteemed psychedelic blues-rockers the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin had actually already played the Seattle Center Arena (on December 27, 1968, albeit in an unadvertised opening role for Vanilla Fudge). But since the January 12, 1969, release of their earth-shattering eponymous debut album, Led Zep's popularity had skyrocketed.

Among those fans who'd opted to watch the show from a watercraft were Mick Flynn -- a guitarist with the local band Meatball and one of Seattle's first vintage gear experts -- and his pal and housemate, Richard Green. "We rowed across the lake and watched the show from the back of the stage -- which was pretty cool! We were probably within six feet of the amps so we had a really good view of the band."

"There was three or four of us in the rowboat," adds Green, "and we rowed over to the Aqua Theatre. It was a beautiful sunny day in the afternoon. We floated up to the dock which was the backstage area and there was actually a fence around the back of the dock and we held onto the fence with our fingers so we wouldn't drift away. And from our position we could see the amplifiers and people milling around backstage. So Led Zeppelin came on and from our position we could look through the stacks of amplifiers and see Robert Plant and Jimmy Page onstage playin' their guts out. And I remember Robert Plant's hair blowin' in the wind. It was such a thrill to be there."

The show began, as Green recalls, with guitarist Jimmy Page running onstage wearing a hip black leather motorcycle jacket and hammering out the riffs to the old Yardbirds classic, "Train Kept a Rollin'," before the rest of Led Zep joined him. "The Green Lake show was pretty cool 'cause they were doing the first album," says Flynn, "and that's what they sounded like."

Some in the audience had, presumably, not yet been exposed the Led Zeppelin album and came wanting to hear the AM radio hit, "Good Times Bad Times." But the band was first going to play that single's flipside and their crowd reportedly responded with some disappointment: "I remember," another fan wrote years after the fact, "Robert Plant saying to the audience that they were going to play the single 'Communication Breakdown,' to a light smattering of boos and requests for 'Good Times Bad Times,' which is what the local stations were playing more often."

Meanwhile, at mid-set -- "when Page was out doin' his solo bit," as Flynn recalls, "Robert Plant and John Paul Jones came back to where we were and we partaked in some weed with them. That was kinda cool. They came over and chatted with us." "I remember that at some point," Green adds, "Robert Plant was milling around behind the amplifiers and I said somethin' to him and he walked over towards us. We had some small talk back and forth and we happened to have a joint lit at the time -- I remember it being Panama Red! -- and so we handed him the joint, he took a couple hits off of it and handed it back and thanked us for coming. He said 'I hope you enjoy the show' and that was it" [laughter].

Like many fans, Flynn and Green loved the show, and later even got a chance to chat with Led Zep's star guitarist: "Page came over," says Flynn, "and we talked for a moment. [I] said somethin' about his guitar. 'Cause I was always interested in checking out the gear -- a lot of that stuff you just didn't see 'til these guys came through: twin Marshalls and stuff."

From all accounts, Led Zeppelin shook the theater to its very foundations -- along with surrounding neighborhoods. One can only have sympathy for all of the traumatized animals in the adjacent Woodland Park Zoo. Not to mention for poor Three Dog Night, who faced the daunting task of following Led Zep onto that stage.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for watching a movie as a family without including my dad? Writing it out, I think I know the answer, but this has still been bugging me.

Around Thanksgiving I (30s) visited home. It was also a trip to see for my mom (late 60s) for her birthday, so I was there for a few days longer than a Thanksgiving trip would normally account for. My brother (30s) and his wife (30s) visited for her birthday too. My dad (early 70s) was there as well. They've been married over 30 years. Originally I'd planned to take everybody out to see a movie as a birthday present for my mom...but it turned out there was literally nothing at the theater that my mom was interested in at all. The town is pretty small, and the options were limited. So instead, we started out with a nice dinner, and family board game run-through of a trivia game we all thought we'd have some fun with. My mom ended up winning, which is rare and was not deliberate, and it wrapped the game up way faster than we'd anticipated.

My dad immediately went back into the living room after the game ended, openly a little annoyed that mom had won a trivia game based on something he considers himself the family expert in. He watches old reruns of the show he's seen a million times on a loop every day, and it can be pulling teeth to get him to do anything else. It was just a fluke, but something the rest of us considered a pleasant surprise since none of us had expected she'd win. But he was annoyed. Given that it was still early, Mom suggested we find a movie to watch online, so we could all wind down before bed with something the whole family could enjoy.

Dad said no. Now this feels like important context: I...have a lot of problems with my dad. I love him, but he can be extremely emotionally immature. Downright verbally abusive at times. And very petty. I'm in therapy in no small part due to some of the insecurities he instilled in me over the years. I've worked hard to set basic boundaries with him. He also has multiple medical issues, and I'm pretty sure he has untreated depression and other mental health problems he refuses to acknowledge that contribute to him flying off the handle at a moment's notice. That, combined with the fact that my mom will 100% never, ever leave him, because she was raised in a very specific mindset that she's never been fully able to shake...means my brother and I usually have to grit our teeth when he starts ranting/yelling/complaining during a visit, or we'd just end up ruining the day for our mom. She's done so much for us, and we just wanted her to have a good visit. So, that's what I did for most of the trip. I breathed deep when my dad openly mocked my stutter, and refused to get in a fight about it. I stopped myself from getting visibly upset when he tried to feed my cat table scraps even when I told him the cat needs a special diet. On other days I tried to watch his old shows with him, and ignored the sexist comments he'd make about the female leads, all for the sake of keeping the peace.

But, it was Mom's birthday. And she wanted to watch a movie.

And Dad said no.

He refused to give up his marathon of old westerns from 60 years ago to watch a new movie with his family on the big tv in the living room.

My mom seemed disappointed, so I suggested we watch one on my laptop in the kitchen instead. Without my dad, if he really wanted to watch his show instead. She agreed, and my brother, his wife, my mom and I filed into the kitchen, sat in less-than-comfy chairs, and watched a fantasy heist film that I'd thought they would all enjoy. And they did. My brother was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the movie (I'd already vouched for it being good, none of the others had seen it previously) His wife kept making notes for her dnd campaign. My mom found it hilarious, and liked that some actors from another show she liked were in it.

My dad stayed in the living room, watching his marathon.

Partway through the movie, he came in and asked us what we were watching. We told him, and he passed through the kitchen for something he needed, then said that we were being too loud. More context: the kitchen is right next to the living room, but my dad turns the tv up so loud in there it can get physically painful to be in the room with him. He refuses to get hearing aides, and only recently relented on subtitles. He also has a habit of screaming at anyone who tries to talk for a long time when his shows are on and they're in earshot, even if they're in a different room. We thought he couldn't hear it over his tv, and so when he said something we said sorry and that we'd try to keep it down, but we could already barely hear it through the laptop speakers. We already had subtitles turned on to make sure we didn't miss anything. When we told him that, he got even more annoyed. He asked how we'd like it if he turned the tv up so loud we couldn't understand anything, then proceeded to go into the living room and do just that, just as I was trying to figure out how much more we could lower the volume without losing our whole experience. We called in that we were already turning it down, and he finally turned his volume back down as well. We finished our movie, turning the volume down during action scenes and up during speaking scenes so we could actually hear the dialog. We enjoyed the rest of the film, and then people started getting ready for bed, and my mom went to check on my dad. She told me a few minutes later that he was hurt that we'd watched the movie without him. That he felt left out. I told her that he'd had multiple opportunities to join us, and that is was his choice not to watch with us. And honestly, the fact that he wouldn't give up the real tv for a couple hours so she could have a birthday movie was really upsetting to me.

She still seemed to feel bad that he was left out, and I'm a little worried that he might've sulked for days afterwards, leaving my mom in an even more stressful environment after I left. Am I the asshole for insisting my mom get to watch a movie on her birthday? And would I be the asshole if I told my dad off for what I consider to be extremely selfish behavior?

Also before anyone asks, no, I'm not cutting him off. It's literally impossible to do that without pretty much cutting off my mom as well, and she absolutely doesn't deserve that. And yes, I've offered up my apartment as a place she can stay if she ever needs to. Repeatedly. She hasn't taken me up on it yet.

What are these acronyms?

[whirligig-girl]

I recently received a copy of the Cerritos Crew Handbook. This was obviously my favorite page, so here's a high resolution digital scan. (just kidding)

Image ID: A starfleet PADD tablet with a page showing basic facts about Mellanoid Slime Worms in the style of the species bio pages in the Star Trek: Lower Decks: Crew Handbook. It is heavily annotated with commentary from Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and Eaurp Guz.

Transcript below cut:

NAME: Mellanoid Slime Worm provisional Federation member. Boimler: I've brought on our Mellanoid officer, Ensign Eaurp Guz, and our resident expert on Mellanoid biology, D'vana Tendi. Guz: full Federation member now, actually.

GREETING: Mellanoid Slime Worms react poorly to friendly insults. At first their righteous indignation might seem like a positive response, but be fair warned! You are not befriending them.

Boimler: Wait, who wrote this? Mariner: Looks like the uh, Zaldan who made first contact with them in the 30s?

TABOOS: Eating in public, uncovered skin. Abducting their children as pets. They do not take kindly to any kind of romantic advances. Guz: ... Tendi: ... Mariner: Girl. IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL FACTS: Mellanoid Slime Worms are composed of a single amorphous cell which can shapeshift into any number of revolting forms, but which do seem to be willing to take on a bipedal appearance when dealing with aliens. Mellanoid Slimes have no sex, no gender, and reproduce asexually. Not much is known about Mellanoids. Their biology, evolution, and habitat are still a mystery.

Guz, responding to "revolting forms": Wait what? We've always been mostly humanoid! And nonhumanoid forms aren't revolting! They're beautiful! Some of my best friends have nonstandard features. Mariner: no sex? Sick burn. Guz, responding to "no gender": I am a woman. Mellanoids are assigned agender at birth but a growing movement is recognizing that some of us do experience gender. Tendi, responding to the whole section: Mellanoid Slime Worms are comprised mostly of visceral slime with a gelatin skeleton made of skeletal gelatin. Their nervous system is highly redundant and spread throughout the body, with slightly darker regions corresponding to regions of higher nerve density. All sensory cells can feel all senses, so they experience touch, taste, sight, sound, and other senses in their whole bodies, but form sensory organs to concentrate those senses. The biomolecular composition is. Mariner: ok Ada Lovelace, we don't need the footnote to be THAT big. CULTURE: The Mellanoid Slime Worms posses a highly repressed culture, lacking entertainment, interpersonal interactions, and with individuals living in even the richest and most technologically advanced nations on their planet being confined to abject poverty. Their technology is rudimentary, with steam propulsion still in common use on land, and their spaceflight manifests as small capsules incapable of even safely making the journey to the nearest gas giant without assistance. Due to their revolting appearance and archaic technology, they are not worthy of further consideration.

Guz: We don't live in poverty! We just have movie theaters instead of televisions, public kitchens instead of restaurants and dining rooms, libraries instead of personal computers. And Advanced Steam locomotives are cool, ok! They were cheaper to run than diesel engines for many years. Guz: Don't even get me STARTED on the rockets of the time. Oh globs, the things we were able to do with only chemical rockets back in the 30s and 40s! Probe missions to Glerbuh and Rabbit, crewed missions to Omen and Oldsky... and that's before the latest warp drive prototypes. When I was in the astronaut corps, they were working on a warp-2 drive! And that's transwarp-2, so that's like 26% faster than the NX-Beta. Mellanoids pride ourselves in our space exploration, which is why even now we're in the Federation we still have our own space program.

Boimler: Huh. That's it? I thought there'd be more, you know, like, something about the history, maybe native animals, why the taboos are the way they are. But it's just something about steam trains and rocket ships? Guz: No actually I think they pretty much hit the stem bolt on the autoseal. I can't think of a reason a new recruit would need to know more about my species. Besides, Tendi's medical research is pretty thorough. Mariner: Hey I just tried to access the research. Why is it flagged as "Age-Locked"? What kind of "research" are you two doing anyway? Guz: Ohhhh... oh no. Tendi: Ok we can stop talking about this now! Boimler: Eh it's probably fine. I mean, why would a minor using a starfleet database need to know critical biological details about a mellanoid slime worm? What, is some, I dunno, Brikar kid gonna stroll up to Starfleet with a slime worm baby and not know how to take care of it? Mariner: Hah! A big stony alien kid taking care of a gooey lil worm? Like that'll ever happen.

[your-unfriendlyghost]

Hi, I'm really really sorry if this just sounds weird, I don't mean it to; but honestly (from your blog) you seem like such a cool and genuine person and I was just wondering how you're able to just put yourself out there so easily? I struggle a lot with being able to express myself, and theater is possibly the hardest place for me.

In short, how do you do it? How are you able just to be so sure about yourself?

Again, I'm really sorry if this is weird. Please ignore this if you wanna 🙏

Oh I ain't sure of myself at all half the time, I'm just real good at sounding like I am. That's one of the secrets. Fake confidence is just as good as real confidence.

I guess the best thing I can suggest is practice. I've been sorta forced to put myself out there just because of pure boredom- life happens if ya make it happen, and I have to make things happen to keep myself sane. That can be little things, like talking to strangers at school just because why not, and it can be bigger things, like going to play auditions without any real experience. Ough worst one is probably talking to girls. That's a real challenge sometimes lol. But if I don't give it my best go, I get bored and lonely. Hell, sometimes I end up bored and lonely anyway, but hey we roll with the punches, yeah?

You learn from successes and failures, and learn what feels right to you, and eventually, fake confidence becomes real.

One thing I wish I'd known back in the day is to not be scared of taking up space. To not be scared to talk. For a hot minute, I legit felt like I was like...inconveniencing folks with my presence. But that's stupid- why should everyone else get to talk except me?? Basically those feelings are bogus and you can ignore 'em.

And finally, ya gotta like yourself. That's really really important. It can be hard sometimes, especially if you're new to it, but you gotta be your own friend! If you're mean to yourself in your head, you'll dislike yourself more and more...but if you're your own cheerleader, it'll be a whole lot more fun to just. Exist in general lol

Anyway take everything I say with a grain of salt- I'm no mental health expert and all I know about how brains function is from observation. I'm also no shining picture of confidence myself- I gotta remind myself these things on the daily. But the one thing that scares me more than social situations is people knowing I'm scared of things, so I'm pretty good at just sucking up anxieties and diving in. That's probably not gonna be good for me in the long run but right now I feel fine lol.