#i didn't even know there was an existing full cast audio

[measureyourlifeincake]

these are all great takes and i do feel honor-bound to mention that Vico Ortiz has voice acted in the audio drama @whatwillbehere! (Idk if they've done any other voice work, but they've definitely already tried their hand at it)

Having listened to the Graphic Audio full-cast audobook for All Systems Red, it was fun but I have some thoughts about the voice acting and direction. So now I’m just daydreaming about “if I had Billionaire Money I would buy the audio rights to TMBD and direct and produce another full cast audio version with voice actors handpicked and paid lavishly by Me.”

The cast being:

All Systems Red:

Murderbot: Kevin R. Free is the voice of Murderbot to a lot of people. I would think very hard about this but it would be a foundational return to form. However I feel like I want to reach out and find a non-binary VA because it's a niche that's been tragically underrepresented in Murderbot VAs. I joked before about Vico Ortiz playing live-action Murderbot but do they want to try their hand at voice acting?

Mensah: Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs. Voices Captain Lovelace on Wolf 359. Has incredible talent and range and does the Intrepid Galactic Explorer so well.

Pin-Lee: Emily Woo Zeller. An audiobook narrator I've consistently liked.

Ratthi: Stephen Dookie. He plays the part of Polites in Epic: The Musical and he's excellent in a very sweet, upbeat, friendly way.

Gurathin: Sungwon "ProZD" Cho. I'm picturing somewhere in the range of his Miles Edgeworth voice for this.

Arada: Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey. She's a singer not a VA but her voice sounds so nice.

Overse: Tanja Milojevic. Her range is incredible.

Bharadwaj: Rukhmani Desai (Captain Tripathi, The Strange Case of Starship Iris. She has that calm, reasonable, rational, desperately kind character voice she plays well in Starship Iris that I think would go well for Bharadwaj)

Volescu: Zach Valenti. The vibes are right.

Additional voices by Tanja Milojevic and Zach Valenti. Yes all of them.

Artificial Condition:

ART: Janelle Monáe and I mean it

Tapan: ItMe of InCo Podcast

The ComfortUnit: also ItMe because an important part of listening to faer acting is realizing in awe how fae voices so many characters at once and make them all sound distinct.

Tlacey: kinda thinking Ariela Rotenberg. she does smugly confidently evil very well. However we cannot discount casting ItMe for this role also

Additional voices by Tanja Milojevic and Zach Valenti.

Rogue Protocol:

Don Abene: Emma Sherr-Ziarko. She also deserves to be an intrepid space leader again.

Miki: ItMe again in InCo Season 2 Updated SAWA mode

Wilken: me. I want a part. I could totally be a badass evil space assassin

Gerth: does Gerth even have any lines.

Additional voices by Tanja Milojevic and Zach Valenti.

Exit Strategy:

Serrat: Zach Libresco. this casting + Janelle Monáe as ART were what drove me to make this post in the first place.

The Combat SecUnit: Ellen McLain in GLaDOS mode. All 2 lines it has.

Network Effect:

Amena: Ishani Kanetkar (The Strange Case of Starship Iris, The Godshead Incidental, excellent VA for a proud and curious but scared young person)

Iris: Jordan Cobb (Janus Descending, Primordial Deep, excellent VA for a gritted-teeth calm scientist in a strange and dangerous place)

Seth: Avery Brooks (I know it is not the 90s anymore. but. Captain Sisko. I can imagine <3 )

Martyn: Alexander Siddig / Siddig El-Fadil (Dr. Bashir). They're TV actors but! I want them as the Ship Captain Husbands

The rest of ART's crew: other podcast VAs I love who I haven't come up with a role for yet. Kristen DiMercurio, Beth Eyre, James Oliva.

Supervisor Leonide: Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova on Babylon 5 <333 )

Eletra: Michaela Swee who is very busy working at An Actual Hospital but I have a billion dollars in this dream scenario so I can pay her to take a day and record like 4 lines

Ras: Zach Valenti. This is very important.

Three: Jackie Andrews who plays R. J. McCabe on Starship Iris and Elinor Lopez on The Pasithea Powder has the right Vibes For This

Zach Valenti as the Additional Voice of every goon and target who gets the shit scared out of them and/or dies.

Fugitive Telemetry:

Indah: Molly Olguin maybe. she could Be Indah. Absolutely means we need Jackie Hedeman to have a role in FT too.

Tifany: Michelle Agresti (Wolf 359, Arden)

Aylen: Tracey Sayed (also Arden)

Jollybaby, Tellus, Balin: I would open the floor to the delightful Murderbot fandom. Who wants to voice a Preservation bot

Additional voices by--well you know the drill.

[toraashi]

‘tis the damn season (ft. oikawa tooru)

Pairing: Oikawa x Reader

Genre/Warnings: angst, fluff, implications of sex (there’s no sexual dialogue, the most explicit it gets is i use the word “whimper” once but theres not even graphic descriptions like i rate this PG-13), a couple swears

Word Count: 1.5k

Summary: part two to this fic. Oikawa visits for the holidays after leaving for Argentina years ago. Catching up with his old flame brings back memories and reminds him of a love lost

Author’s Note: this is inspired by ‘tis the damn season by Taylor Swift. It’s so good, please listen to it, it’ll add so much to the story because I reference it lots :) also i’m dedicating this to @hikariakaashi bc she agreed to be my valentine this year hehe 🥰 also @u-make-my-heart-tsumtsum​ thank you for hyping this up in the discord :))

“the road not taken looks real good now, and it always leads to you.”

"Hey, it's Tooru. I'm in town for the holidays. I'd like to see you."

The sound of his voice as the audio repeated left an unpleasant feeling in his chest. It burned like longing but twisted and lurched like nervosity, a sensation he pretended he wasn't familiar with. Oikawa wasn't a nervous person. He was a confident, suave man with the world in his hands, but for some reason, leaving a voicemail for someone this dear to him, who could see through him like glass, left a slight tremble in his fingers. 

The ding of his phone startled him, muscles growing taut. 

10:36am

It's been so long! I'd love to see you. Would 4 at that old coffee shop work?

received

Holy shit. 

It was almost embarrassing how his breath caught and his heart stuttered. It had been years, but yet here he was, hooked in with every word.

10:40am

I'll make it work 

sent

10:42am

That's a first ;) i'll see you then 

received 

The coffee shop hadn't changed much since he'd last been. The walls were still straining with the wooden roof's weight, the floor still comprised of creaky floorboards that screeched at each drag of a chair. Sparkling red and green lights decked the rafters, hanging low and casting unique shadows across the residents. The lobby was relatively empty, and he was seated quickly at a metal table near the window. The round teapoy rocked on uneven legs when he put his arms on it, but nostalgia made up for the shoddy furniture quality. The poignant smells and whispers of piano music wafted over him like a tender memory, leaving him with visions of your sunrise smile and golden touch breezing over his fingertips. Content was the next emotion that settled over him, but before he could melt too far into it, the bell on the door jingled. Chilly winter air rushed through his hair, waking him up from the dream that was the last few years and bringing him back home. In the blink of an eye, a familiar arm was pulling at the seat in front of him. It took his brain far too long to process the rosy cheeks and snow-dusted hair before him, but once he did, an infectious grin tugged at his lips.

"Long time, no see." Your gaze was cautious and guarded, and it burned holes in his euphoria. 

"Long time, no see," you repeated with a light smile, "How have you been?" 

"Ah, you know, just capturing the hearts of every person in Argentina, how are you?" That earned him a tinkling laugh, and his heart beamed at the reward. 

"I'm doing okay, just living my life." You greeted the waitress, plainly speaking your order, pausing to glance at him before ordering his old favorite. Honey hues glittered with unspoken fondness when you caught his gaze; he couldn't help it.

"You remembered my order. I feel special."

"Shut up. You are special, Mr. Pro Volleyball Player." You teased, inching your fingertips towards him on the table. It wasn't enough to be wanton, but he noticed, and he couldn't help but reciprocate. Eyes flicking to his hands and back up, that cautious glaze returned. "So, are you staying in town?" A warm hum in affirmation thrummed in his throat.

"I'm staying at my parents' house." 

"For how long?" The words seemed full, but he wasn't sure with what. 

"Just the weekend." He held your gaze like a taut string tugging you closer and closer. The air felt heavy, and his heart ached with a longing he'd suppressed for years. You opened your mouth to speak, but before anything came out, he interjected boldly. After all, what was he, if not bold? "I got your letter." Hues big and lips parted, a pink flush climbed your cheeks. If he was the same person he was years ago, he would've teased you, but now? With his heart on his sleeve and your eyes staring into his soul, how could he muster that courage up?

"And?" The single word was meek and tentative, fragile like the little bird of your unyielding love. 

"Well, for one, your attempt at scratching out the last line wasn't great." There was the teasing. He couldn't hold it back for long. 

"Shut up." You shied away from his crinkled eyes, pinker than you were when you stumbled in. God, he missed this.

"I won't." He drawled, closing the narrow distance between your fingertips and enveloping your hands like it didn't electrify his nerves. "And for the record, I missed you too." 

"Did you?" He rubbed a calloused finger across your knuckles, holding your eyes confidently. 

"How could I not miss that pretty face?" 

"Stop teasing." You pouted.

"I'm not." Pensively, you stared back at him, and he admired the furrow of your eyebrows, the puff of your pouted cheeks. Your smaller hands were quaking in his, and just as he considered laying off, you spoke a conglomeration of words that shuddered up his spine.

"Would you like to stay at mine for the night? We can catch up more? I don't want to leave you just yet." A genuine smile simmered up his lips, and he linked his fingers between yours.

"You know I can't say no to you." 

"Didn't seem like it when you left." The magic in his chest faltered at the blow, but the regret was evident in your expression. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I know it was about more than me." he hummed, the affectionate graze of his thumb against your knuckles resuming. 

The conversation felt much too short, every move you made clenching his heart, brimming it with innocent nostalgia and longing. Before long, you were tugging him out the door, leading him to your apartment in a movie-worthy montage. The silver moonlight caught your hair like silk, your gossamer grip on his wrist balmy and familiar. 

"My, you're eager." When you glanced back, your eyes sparkled like the sequins on your prom getup from so many years ago. 

"Is it stupid that I missed you so much?" The way his heart caught in his throat was almost painful. Chest aching, he concluded that this was what happiness felt like, a hummingbird flutter he'd never find in the falsities of fame. You, who knew him like the muddy road to your secret high-school hangout spot, looked ethereal beneath the moon's knowing smile. As you approached the door, he couldn't help but dip his toes into the subdued desire he'd grown to ignore. 

Your chest pressing into his, your back to the door, his fingertips firm against your waist, and finally, the brush of your reposeful kiss against his needy lips, it left him with frantic desperation clawing up his body. You broke away with a similar gleam tucked into your gaze like a secret just for him. Swinging the door open and fumbling with your jacket, you found your place in his arms again, a mutual craving for a love that was cut so short.

He did many things that night he'd only remembered in dreams, his frame pressing your familiar figure into the bed, lips tracing every line of your silhouette, the dips and curves in your skin, sealing each forgotten memory in an envelope for him to read later. Just for tonight, he'd bask in your entirety, the glow of your smile, the whimpers that spilled past your pretty lips, everything that was purely you. When everything was done and gone, the flaxen glow of your lamplight flickering out, you pulled him into your arms, twirling the chocolate strands of his hair, breathing in his adoration, your own lulling him into a long-awaited, dream-filled slumber. He dreamed of his past self getting lost in the empty arms of another, the void carved out by your existence impossible to fill. He dreamed of the life he'd lead if he'd remained in your embrace, waking up to you every morning instead of cold sheets. 

He awoke with the December sun, your bare skin blinding in the morning's glow. Glancing at the red numbers on your nightstand, he stretched his arms. It was almost ten, but the warmth of your body reeled him back in like a fishing pole, his mouth splattering kisses across your visage like freckles. Swelling with delight, he collected you into his arms, setter's fingers revisiting the map he drew on your body like the ink was still drying, greeting you with a grin as your eyes lolled open. 

"Morning, babe." Oikawa scanned the love-struck expression painting your features, the scrunch of your nose, the quirk of your lips; he inhaled it like it was his last breath, coming to terms with the time and its draining sand. Raising a lone finger, he followed the shape of your jawline, locking your chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Sleep well?" You neglected to respond, searching his gaze. 

"If this is the last time I ever see you, I want you to know that I've always loved you, and I won't ask you to stay." The last grain of sand in the hourglass tumbled through the glass gap, the alarm clock on your nightstand beeping abruptly, stealing Oikawa's breath. 

And as he looked upon your effervescent figure, shattering his own battered heart at the realization, Oikawa decided the road not taken never looked more appealing than now.

[emeraldskulblaka]

On Pro-shots

There's no "read more" option on mobile - sorry!

As a follow-up to the post I made last year (On Bootlegs), here's my opinion on pro-shots, complete with explanations and examples.

Like I mentioned before, I've seen a surge in people discussing/asking about pro-shot musicals, Live! musicals and movie musicals recently, so I decided to discuss common misconceptions, overused arguments and the target audience of said musical 'versions'.

Types of pro-shots

professional release

That's the type of pro-shot every theatre fan dreams of. See: Hamilton, Newsies, etc. Professionally recorded, countless angles, perfect sound and editing, a video of the actual stage show recorded over several days of performances. Very expensive to produce.

house cam

A video of a stage show filmed from the back of the Stalls/Orchestra, most likely full stage only. The audio comes from the soundboard, i. e. focuses on the singing rather than the music, for the most part. House cams and soundboards are recorded specifically for those who work on the show with equipment that already exists within the theatre. Sometimes, they're leaked by a cast or crew member, which is the reason why there are quite a few house cam videos in circulation, e. g. Beauty and the Beast, The Book of Mormon.

recording for archival purposes

Almost every professional show is recorded for archival purposes. Even though the quality of these recordings is higher than that of house cams, it is NOT up to the standard of professional releases and therefore CANNOT simply be released publicly. However, it is possible to watch such recordings under certain conditions at the TOFT in NYC and the V&A Museum in London.

Live! productions of musicals

Live! musicals are heavily influenced by the stage shows, but they're shot on TV sets with different locations. They're livestreamed to a TV audience, sometimes with an audience on set as well. Most Live! versions differ quite from previous productions on Broadway or in the West End, see: The Sound of Music, The Little Mermaid.

Movie musicals

I guess I don't have to explain what a movie musical is, but it's important to know that movie musicals are the preferred type of pro-shot for most producers as they're produced like a typical movie, complete with song and dance.

The target audience

Let's get the hard truth out of the way: pro-shots are NOT filmed for you, yes you, the person reading this. You most likely know a lot more about theatre than the average person, either because you're a theatre fan, or because you're following me. Professionally filmed musicals, including Live! and movie musicals, are filmed for the general public, for people who enjoy the occasional musical. In order to appeal to a wider audience, these videos must have excellent quality, crystal clear sound and and crisp definition. In a world where HD and 4K are the norm, musicals have to meet the same standards. Let's keep this in mind for when I discuss common misconceptions and overused arguments when it comes to pro-shots.

Common misconceptions & arguments

"Why don't they just release the recordings filmed for archival purposes?"

For a number of reasons, actually. I'm no expert, mind you, but the performers' and musicians' contracts mostly do not include filmed performances with the purpose of a public release. There might be serious problems with unions, copyright, etc. Then, remember what I've said before - they're not up to the standards of professional releases unless they're filmed for a future release (e. g. Hamilton, which was filmed in 2016 and released in 2020. But that's not a recording for the archives).

"They clearly had the equipment necessary for high-quality recordings (see: trailers), why didn't they record the whole show?"

First of all, there's a difference between recording individual songs/scenes and the entire show. If you mess up a scene for the trailer/music video, you can either edit it out or start again. Second, you need to rent the equipment. Professional shows are recorded over the span of several days to make sure everything goes according to plan, so it'll cost infinitely more than to just film a couple of scenes and be done within a day. Third, theatres aren't TV sets. They're not built for professional recording, and setting up the equipment to get various interesting angles without obstructions takes forever.

"releasing pro-shots will eliminate the need for bootlegs"

Definitely not - no number of pro-shots, no matter which type, will reduce the number of bootlegs recorded. For more details, see here.

"Pro-shots will make theatre more accessible"

I can't fully support this statement. Not all pro-shots are available to everyone. Miss Saigon was shown in cinemas internationally and later released on DVD and on Blu-ray. Perfect example here. Releasing musicals internationally and on DVD/for download is a challenge not every producer is willing to accept. Some are streamed/shown in a limited number of countries (Rent at the Hope Mill Theatre), some are shown in a select number of theatres (The King and I West End), and some are only available for a limited time (Before/After at the Southwark Playhouse). So no, they're not particularly accessible, at least not to everyone. They're a step in the right direction.

Re: the "inaccessibility" of theatre, see here.

"I wish they'd record more pro-shots! There are so few out there"

Oh please. Starting in 2016, there have been Newsies, Falsettos, Miss Saigon, 42nd Street, An American in Paris, Bandstand, Hamilton and The King and I just off the top of my head. Furthermore Live! musicals (Grease, Hairspray, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rent, The Little Mermaid) 'socially distanced' musicals (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, The Last Five Years, Marry Me A Little), staged concerts (Les Misérables, Before/After, First Date, Title of Show), 'quarantine' musicals (Songs For a New World, Ratatouille) and minor productions (Allegiance, Fun Home). I didn't even look up a single show (there are definitely at least five I missed), and we're at 24 in the last five years alone. That's A LOT.

"releasing pro-shots will hurt ticket sales"

Same as with bootlegs - no recording will substitute for a live performance at the theatre. None. Besides, it'll be hard to tell what exactly will influence ticket sales in the foreseeable future.

"Pro-shots are the only way for me to watch musicals"

Oh honey, they're not even the only LEGAL way to watch musicals. There are always bootlegs (dozens of them can easily be found on YouTube), and there'll be plenty of theatre going on after the pandemic, I assure you. Broadway and West End theatre is fantastic, but it's not all there is.

Finally, I'd like to repeat something I've said before:

"You need to shift your perspective from what's immensely popular towards what's actually within reach. If you happen to live in a country where there aren't a lot of theatres, that's incredibly unfortunate, and I completely understand why you consider theatre to be inaccessible! Make sure to support the shows you love by purchasing what's already there - that way, producers might be able to afford to release more."

I'd like to add that during the pandemic, I've been able to watch many shows I'd never have been able to watch if not for these special circumstances. However, I've noticed that many people complain about the lack of theatre these days and aren't even aware of what's being put out there. Nope, still no pro-shot of Six. But so many other musicals and plays, ready to watch from the comfort of your home.

I don't consider myself an expert on this topic, this is just what I've picked up over the years.