#idk what it is about king lear but it is just not my favorite shakespeare play. like remotely at all.

[britneyshakespeare]

on the other hand ive been reading othello today and i know it's shocking ive read 23 shakespeare plays and it took me this long to finally get to othello. in my defense the riverside shakespeare (1973) is a hell of a drug. i have always been reading the plays in no particular order other than what my whims directed me to. i read the winter's tale last year because my professor mentioned it offhandedly. one of the first comedies i read was all's well that ends well not because i knew anything about it, or even heard anyone say it was good, but because i liked the title and i knew there was a character with my name in it. i read all over the place but yeah by far the most significant play i still hadn't read as of a week ago was othello, and now i'm more than halfway through it and. yeah.

i haven't read a pure shakespeare tragedy in three and a half years. ive mostly been reading the histories this year in particular. i think i might generally neglect the tragedies because i find the comedies and romances to be more whimsical and fun, and the histories to be more devilish and bloodthirsty and action-packed, however that is to my regret because my whims have not leaned more towards a tragedy in all that time. i still watch them on occasion but that's different.

i haven't felt this deeply connected to the characters in his plays in such a long time, my god. i absolutely love othello and my heart is aching. desdemona can do no wrong. cassio is poor and unfortunate. i want to rip iago's eyes out. oh my god wow.

[jeanmoreaux]

*✧ — august 2023 wrap up

idk what's going on besties. i have absolutely nothing to say. it's just. so very empty in my head at the moment.

2023 goal: 150/100 books

as alway, feel free to drop book recs, questions, or opinions in my inbox; i am always happy to talk to you about books!

* –> newly added to my favorites shelf

follow my goodreads | follow my storygraph | previous wrap ups

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The One by John Marrs | 4★

King Lear by William Shakespeare | 5★

Serious Concerns by Wendy Cope | 4★

Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo | 4.75★

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong | dnf'ed | 1★ | review

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave | 3★

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah | 4★

Second Place by Rachel Cusk | 4★

Magma by Thóra Hjörleifsdóttir | 4★

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

rereads

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston | 5★ | review

Greywaren (TDT #3) by Maggie Stiefvater | 4.25★ | review

Macbeth by William Shakespeare | 5★

[butchhamlet]

OKAY SO I GOT TO SEE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK ANDRE DE SHIELDS KING LEAR YESTERDAY AND IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING SO HERE’S A POST ABOUT THAT

first off here’s the shitty picture i took of the set! the entire thing was set in “a north african nation” (words theirs; in quotes because i don’t want to seem like they named a real one and i just didn’t bother to remember askdfhdskhfds) & the entire cast was people of color! i am staring at this picture thinking about how blurry it is but trust me that it was SO fucking cool... it was visibly gorgeous but also visibly crumbling which. like. foams at the mouth about the symbolism yknow

ALSO the winged thing is the throne! during intermission (which was after 3.6), some crew members took the wings off and laid them down at the back of the set like the whole thing had come apart, and when edmund entered in 5.1 he had a moment of staring out at the audience with his foot up on the top wing

the entire production went hard on drums; there was a note in the program about how the director wanted to center the african setting & also the rhythm; the trumpet herald at the end was replaced by drumming, and during the storm scenes, the drums represented the thunder! (complete with flashing lights for lightning; it was cool as fuck)

& now i’m gonna describe my beat-by-beat staging notes that i scribbled down from where i was sitting in the grass. no attempts to make this coherent bc the show was so fucking good and i just feel insane <3

 edmund came out in literal jade-colored glasses which felt like a WONDERFUL character bit

everyone in this cast was so well cast btw and not to be a lesbian but like. the lear sisters. 😳

they cut the cordelia asides in 1.1, which made it slightly harder to get a read on her but also made it slightly more startling when she said “nothing, my lord” (goneril and regan both got up to take a literal microphone from lear, while cordelia didn’t take it when he held it out and literally turned away to face the audience instead)

there were three little stools laid out for each sister to sit on & lear was so infuriated by what cordelia said that he started throwing them around (not at her but close)

and lear never looked particularly Legitimately Threatening (he looked very small, actually; idk how tall andre de shields is lmfao but he definitely looked like an old man), but cordelia flinched near-instinctively when he threw the stools, like this wasn’t the first time

WHEN LEAR LEFT NEAR THE END OF 1.1 GONERIL GOT UP AND SAT IN THE THRONE WHERE HE’D BEEN SITTING AND STAYED THERE WHILE SEEING CORDELIA OFF

she was also the only lear sister in a pantsuit 😳

on that note they were color-coded! goneril was dressed all in purple, regan was orange, and cordelia was pink; all of their households followed this (eg cornwall was orange, oswald was purple), but when cordelia came back in act four, it was in soldiers’ clothes without any pink on her

andre de shields lear was fucking incredible and is anyone surprised about that like he was so good

he did SO much yelling. man has some lungs on him. not even yelling words all the time but a lot of just flat-out yelling (which was alternately funny and distressing depending on the moment)

like in 1.4 he stumbled back in to deliver “50 of my followers at a clap?” heralded by his own flat-out scream which made everyone laugh a little. grandpappy off the shits

EDGAR CAME IN ON A SKATEBOARD WITH HEADPHONES ON AND WHEN HE STOPPED AND LIFTED UP HIS SKATEBOARD SHAKESPEARE’S FACE WAS ON THE BOTTOM

this edgar was so fucking perfect btw like. everything about him. i think he was my favorite part of the show

lear and his knights busted in playing loud music, waving guns, and drinking from beer cans (white claw? idk what it was i’m a weenie). lear was wearing the brightest orange shirt ive ever seen. kent received entry to the group by busting some sick moves to the music despite being an oldass man

the fool was SO fucking funny he interacted w the audience constantly and the entire time (even during the storm scene) he was lugging around a suitcase and a little folding stool

after “have more than thou showest” the audience started clapping and he looked at us and said “not yet”

and then proceeded to deliver the sweet and bitter fool speech as a full-on rap with the audience clapping the beats in after each line

at the end of which he said to us “good job! give yourselves a hand. the king’s mad at y’all now though” and then he turned around and lear had his gun aimed at him and AUDIBLY clicked the safety off and there was a tense second where the fool had to talk him down

GONERIL SLAPPED LEAR AFTER THE BARRENNESS CURSE

1.5 hurt because the fool was VERY clearly trying his best to cheer lear up, like, he kept glancing around for ideas and trying to joke while lear sat pathetically on his folding stool

the stage was outdoors (duh) and there were ramps on either side for the actors to come on and off into the crowd, and when edgar ran off, he sprinted down the ramp, then turned, sprinted BACK, hugged edmund HARD, and then ran off again and around the back of the stage

this was after edmund FULLY punched him in the face on “pardon me” :(

at the end of 2.1 edmund was the last one to file off stage and he turned and gave the audience the cheekiest shrug

edgar tripped and ate shit while he was absolutely tearing around the side of the stage for 2.3 and idk if it was on purpose but it felt in character AKHSDFKHDSSFH

he delivered “poor turlygod! poor tom!” like he was acting, and then looked up and went “that’s something” kind of like he’d just realized

the fool delivered his merlin speech like he was making it up on the fucking spot. “and then the realm of albion...” [PAUSE.] “will come... to great... con-fu-si-on” emphasizing the non-rhyme. same with the non-rhyme of “see’t” / “fee-eet.” then he looked at us and said, “i didn’t write it. ask the author” and scrambled offstage

in 3.3 gloucester hugged edmund! ...and edmund picked his pocket for his key

“nay, he reserved some white flowers in the crook of his elbow, half a pair of pants, and a nasty ratty baseball cap, else we’d all been shamed” (im filling in the wording i forgot but that’s near verbatim and i cackled out loud)

(he was, indeed, wearing nothing but some white flowers, a ragged pair of pants, and a nasty ratty baseball cap. and a lot of dirt/paint)

when gloucester entered during the hovel scene edgar was skittering across the floor and looked up and the whole set paused as they made EXTENDED eye contact and it hurt INTENSELY

and then edgar snatched gloucester’s flashlight and hurried to the opposite end of the stage to focus entirely and intently on warming his hands over it like a fire and he did not look in gloucester’s direction at all but he got VERY still when gloucester mentioned him

i made an AUDIBLE noise when lear stabbed the fool. like. i knew it was a possible staging but it happened so fast and so viciously that it caught me totally off guard

and edgar got the “i’ll go to bed at noon” line :(

genuinely it is hard to emphasize how perfect this edgar was. how do i kin a character but just one specific version of that character that i saw one time

(intermission happened here!)

while interrogating gloucester, cornwall was very deliberately putting on medical gloves and then he picked up a power drill and my friend and i in the audience looked at each other exactly like the fucking monkey puppet image

however. only one eye went out with the power drill. because regan took the other one out WITH HER NAILS in a fit of rage when her husband was injured. full on stuck her hand into his eye socket

goneril and edmund kissed for a LONG long moment in 4.2. long enough that oswald coughed pointedly. which did not stop or affect them

gloucester tried to pay edgar and edgar immediately turned around and chucked the payment off stage

gloucester used a cane the whole show and he dropped it off the “cliff” before he fell, and edgar swooped down and silently caught it and held it for a moment before he let it clatter to the floor

at this point he was also wearing leggings and like. three mismatched layers of flannels and jackets

lear came out in act four in a tropical dress, white face/chest paint, and a flower/fruit hat

he threw money into the crowd multiple times during his speech, including one point where he specifically leaned over the edge of the stage, motioned at the closest audience member, said, “come here,” and then threw money at them

he also mooned the guards who came to get him

and nearly hugged someone in the crowd while the guards tried to drag his half-tranquilized body away

oswald was so fucking funny for the entire play. so funny. in 1.4 he came in with goneril and pointed at lear with the air of a small child tattling to the teacher; when kent attacked him he fell on the ground whimpering;  he came in to kill gloucester a moment before lear left and ducked back into the wings FAST before creeping out again

when the guards brought lear and cordelia in, someone set out the fool’s little folding chair, and cordelia ended up sitting on it during lear’s speech :( felt very my-poor-fool-is-hanged y’know

curan from 2.1 was the captain in 5.1! so he & edmund already had a bit of a relationship established

REGAN THREW HER WINE IN GONERIL’S FACE WHILE THEY FOUGHT OVER EDMUND

edgar and edmund dueled with two swords each

AND WHEN HE WAS INJURED AND ALBANY CALLED THEM BOTH OUT. GONERIL TOOK EDMUND’S SWORD AND WENT AT ALBANY WITH IT AND NEARLY GOT HIM BEFORE RUNNING OFFSTAGE

they cut “yet edmund is beloved” which is always a cardinal sin HOWEVER when he got the news about regan and goneril edmund stabbed himself which. pain and suffering!

much like albany himself, i literally forgot about lear and cordelia because i was so enthralled by gloucester brothers duel like. i was so caught up in the agony of edgar killing edmund that i forgot the other fucking bomb that had to drop and it was like getting bricked in the face

my last note literally reads “cannot believe i forgot abt the other bomb to drop jesus christ i hate this shit ass bitch ass play it really just fucking ends like that huh fuck off”

it was the first time i’ve ever seen live shakespearean theater and it literally could not have been better and i am terminally insane now.

[that-was-anticlimactic]

interests tag

i was tagged by @capt-snoozles es and @sheimagineddragons :)

MUSIC

Fave genre?

theatre !!! i listen solely to theatre and cartoon music [i.e. mlp songs, steven uiverse sings, etc...]

Fave artist?

uhhh my favorite musical is aladdin and my 1.5 favorite is a chorus line and my second favorite is come from away if those count haha

Fave song?

always: high adventure from aladdin broadway | idk why, but this song always helps me calm and down and take a breath and ground myself no matter what i’m feeling.

at the moment: safer from the musical first date

Most listened song recently?

nothing left to lose from the tangled series but like... the danish version...

and i listen to chant from hadestown a lot too oops

Song currently stuck in your head?

heroes on fire from kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

5 fave lyrics?

"it’s addictive the minute you let yourself think / the things that i say just might matter to someone” - you matter to me, waitress

"only one dad / only inspiring one son / edward, you’re done / writing your perfect tale / telling the perfect tale / it was a perfect tale” - what’s next, big fish

"but wishes are dreams and dreams are pretend / so science and reason win out in the end / science says you’re dead and gone forever / reason says i’m talking to the air / but something in my heart / some secret hidden part / illogically insists that you are there / somewhere” - if i believed - twisted

"and though the people around me / their mouths are still moving / the words they are forming / cannot reach me anymore / and it is quiet / and i am warm / like i’ve sailed / into the eye of the storm” - quiet, matilda

"i’m the son of poseidon / i never asked to be / but i’m the son of poseidon / now face the tide / inside of me” - son of poseidon, the lightning thief

[bonus] “i love a lilting line of lyrical alliteration / who doesn’t love alliteration?” - i love the way, something rotten

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | louder or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

Fave book genre?

uhhh i don’t think i have a specific genre, but anything that talks about the morality because i love that kind of analysis

Fave writer?

uhhh it changes, but i usually say chris colfer or edgar allen poe

Fave book?

the land of stories, chris colfer / an author’s odyssey, chris colfer

the lost hero, rick riordan [look it’s my favorite one...] 

murder on the orient express, agatha christie

heart of redness, zakes mda

king lear, shakespeare

Fave book series?

the land of stories series by chris colfer :)

Comfort book?

angels at the table - debbie macomber

Perfect book to read on a rainy day?

how to speak dragonese, cressida cowell

Fave characters?

goldilocks / conner bailey, land of stories series

piper mclean, heroes of olympus

camicazi, how to train your dragon series

ron weasley, harry potter series [love ron, not the author tho]

matilda, matilda

5 quotes from your fave book that you know by heart?

"be brave, children. courage is the one thing no one can ever take away from you” - land of stories

"there’s no such thing as im-POSSIBLE, hiccup, only im-PROBABLE. the only thing that limits us are the limits of our imagination” - how to train your dragon

“i like it when somebody gets excited about something. it's nice” - catcher in the rye

“self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting” - henry v

“do you think, because i am poor, obscure, plain, and little, i am soulless and heartless? you think wrong! — i have as much soul as you, — and full as much heart! and if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, i should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you” - jane eyre

“so matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. these books gave matilda a hopeful and comforting message: you are not alone.” - matilda

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

Fave tv/movie genre?

uhh pretty much any cartoon tbh

Fave movie?

the my little pony movie (2017)

the lego ninjago movie (2017)

finding neverland

coraline

Comfort movie?

the my little pony movie (2017) [once watched it six times in one day]

the friendship games

Movie you watch every year?

the my little pony movie (2017) [i watch it once a month over zoom with my internet friend shannon]

Fave tv show?

the hollow

avatar: the last airbender

kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

lego ninjago: masters of spinjitzu

my little pony: friendship is magic

miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir

psych

Comfort tv show?

the hollow [specifically s2 ep6, dead end]

Most rewatched tv show?

the hollow

my little pony: friendship is magic

miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir

5 fave characters?

sokka sokka sokka sokka sokka, atla

vanessa, the hollow

cole brookestone, ninjago

nino lahiffe, mlb

benson, kipo and the age of wonderbeasts

varrick or bumi ii, legend of korra

tv shows or movie | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more)* | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes* | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

hehe this took awhile, but this was fun :)))

okay so uhh, imma tag [with no obligations so sorry if you were already tagged], my fellow thespians @bisexuallsokka and @bobisahandsomeskull as well as @leesbian42 and @fixationsbigandsmall

[eurydicees]

What play or musical do you associate with each host and why?

ok so i’ve spent A Long Time thinking about this ask and it’s. it’s just so hard. there are so many good shows to choose from and none of them are Perfect but so many of them are Right. anyways here are a few ideas: 

tamaki: 

“anastasia” → it’s a musical about a girl searching for her family, and eventually choosing a new found family over her birth grandmother, leaving her blood relatives in order to be with the love of her life, and i think that’s very tamaki

kyoya: 

“king lear” → i’ve actually noted this in a fic i wrote where i compare lear’s relationship to his daughters and yoshio’s relationship to his sons, and there’s not much more of a basis for it than that, but i think it’s kinda fitting (also i’ve commented on this before, but i think kyoya would be very into shakespeare) 

haruhi: 

“newsies” → it’s got unions, it’s got a comphet romance, it’s got some iconic dancing, it’s got taking down capitalists through the power of human connection, and all of that kinda just screams haruhi at me

hikaru: 

“legally blonde” → i think hikaru would be warner and haruhi would be elle and i find that hilarious

kaoru: 

“spring awakening” → i can’t quite pinpoint why, but since it’s a musical/play about growing up and exploring your own sexuality and societal pressures and also how adults are just the worst because they don’t put effort into understanding their kids, it gives me a kaoru vibe

mori: 

“romeo and juliet” → mori + theatre makes me think about stage fighting, and this has that, and idk why but i also think that he would like a good tragic romance 

honey: 

“peter and the starcatcher” → it’s about essentially a prequel to peter pan, but told through the framing of a bunch of kids coming together and acting out a story that they’re telling to each other for fun, and that sense of childish yearning for magic seems very similar to honey

other contenders: 

“bye bye birdie” for tamaki, just because i like comparing tamaki to conrad

“twelfth night” for haruhi, because. yk. crossdressing, twins, comedic romance, mistaken identity, and it’s my favorite shakespeare play and i want that for her

“how to succeed in business without really trying” for kyoya, but just the part where the guy gets real successful real fast

“avenue q” for tamaki and kyoya, but only the “if you were gay” scene

“the addams family” for mori, solely because of that singular hc i had in my theatre club au where mori’s first job as an actor is in that show (i said originally he would play gomez, but i have since changed my mind and decided he would play lurch, for obvious reasons) 

“company” for the twins, because they need to learn to let people into their world and accept love

anyways i’m so curious what other people’s thoughts are, pls lmk in the tags or replies or an ask or whatever!! 

[dachi-chan25]

I finished my tbr but I didn't liked a lot of the books, I am so disappointed, I read 2 extra graphic novels to at least get something I did like so yeah.

1-Cinco Horas Con Mario - Miguel Delibes

🌟🌟

Se que es un clásico de la literatura española pero es que la mujer es insufrible de verdad que es una basura de personaje totalmente despreciable y prejuiciosa el concepto del libro me atrajo muchísimo pero de verdad que yo no puedo con el monólogo interno de esta mujer.

2.- The Young Elites - Marie Lu

🌟🌟

I think I know what they were going for with Adelina, Marie Lu was going for an anti hero or a fallen hero but Adelina lacked so much depth for that to be the case, sadly the worldbuilding wasn't great either, again the premise seemed intriguing to me but I didn't like the characters or the plot and seeing as this is very character driven I couldn't enjoy it nor am I inclined to read the next books.

3.- A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

🌟🌟

I was so disappointed, I became intrested in this after reading about the author and how this book came to be published. But I am sorry to say I just couldn't connect with any of the characters or the humor so yeah it wasn't an enjoyable read for me at all.

4.-Athena's Champion - David Hair/Cath Mayo

🌟🌟🌟

It was ok, I felt pretty luckwarm toward this, which is surprising as I loved the Moontide Quartet by David Hair, and this "prequel" to the Illiad certainly sounded like something I would enjoy but it felt so juvenile and again the characters annoyed me a lot, idk maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it.

5.-Four Dead queens - Astrid Scholtte

🌟🌟

The worldbuilding made no sense to me. It was predictable and the villian was a caricature, the romance was bland and the relationship I did care about came to nothing because the title itself spoils the queens die, like I just don't get how a system that doesn't work for anyone literally even the rulers disliked the Queenly Law is still going on.

6.-Kingsbane (Empirium #2)- Claire Legrand

🌟🌟

Whyyyyyy??? I really liked the first book, and unpopular opinion but I liked both queens, but this book was so wierd, Rielle felt like a whole new character like I was curious as to how she came to be the Blood Queen and it was such a disappointment I hoped for more, and Elena didn't fare much better, I just - I will not continue the series I just didn't like this book at all and i don't see how it will recover from the point it left us.

7.-The Kingdom of Cooper (Daevad Trilogy #2) - S.A Chakraborty

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Finally some good food!!!! So by this point I pretty much thought I was brain dead and didn't like reading anymore but this book returned my faith. Why hadn't I read this??? Nahri goes through so much in this book and I really love how much Ali and she complement each other, how idelistic and caring they both are, like I really want them together not only romantically (I mean I know they in laws but let's be honest Muntadhir would rather be married to Nahri's brother, soooo we can work it out) Dara fucked up but I did feel for him, like I don't support what he is doing but the politics of it were complicated, and well Daevad is a mess rn so yeah I am dying to see what happens next.

8.-Candide - Voltaire

🌟🌟🌟

It was pretty funny and there is a lot of satire going on, I always appreciate that.

9.- La Senda del mexica - Joaquin Guerrero Casasola

🌟🌟🌟

Me encanto el concepto, una novela negra ubicada en Tenochtitlan es algo que de verdad me intrigaba, sobre todo porque utilizan el concepto de detective viejo que ya duda de sus habilidades, Opochtli no es un personaje que me agradara en particular pero lo disfrute como protagonista y la historia aunque bastante sencilla fue muy original y descriptiva, realmente me pude imaginar todos los sabores y colores que describía Opochtli y eso lo aprecio mucho.

10.- King Lear - William Shakespeare

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is a re-read for me, this play is one of my favorites and I enjoy a lot to read it every now and then.

11.- Bury what we cannot take - Kristen Chen

🌟🌟🌟

This book is about a family that seeks to flee China during the Mao regimen to go to Hong Kong where the father lives with his mistress, the mother is unable to get permission for all of them leaves San San her young daughter then faces horrors as she tries to catch up with her family as her brother who was very loyal to the party tries to go back. I thought it was a great read really moving, but the end felt too open for me I wanted more I wanted to go deeper and Stronger w some themes so it left me dissatisfied.

12.- The Priory of the orange tree - Samantha Shannon

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I loved it!!!! The mythology surrounding the dragons and wyrms was great, the different realms w their different systems. The religion, in Virtudom especially where the ruler is believed to be a descendant from the Saint (and that plot twist), the characters and how well developed they were. Sabran and Ead! !!!! Like I was hoping they would be the saphicc romance everyone raved about cuz I loved their interactions, like I lost hope for a second there but then I was so happy when it came to happen, as a matter of fact the only reason why I didn't give this 5 stars is cuz I would have loved to have a prologue 10 years in the future to see them fulfill their promise.

13.- Verify - Joelle Charbonneau

🌟🌟

It might be good to introduce dystopic to a young audience, like this takes from many classic dystopias that gives a nice fundation if you never read one before, but as someone who enjoys dystopias a lot for me this was pretty boring and unoriginal, I know it was supposed to be a retelling of Fahrenheith 451 but I didn't see ir that way, like we could argue Paper is deemed as illegal and stuff but tbh it wasn't great, the main character was very unappealing to me, so not reading the next one.

14.-Prosper's demon - K.J Parker

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I really loved this one!!! Very short but succeeds in establishing the world and the characters, it was so good, full of morally grey characters, the ending left me shook like it really made me believe one thing and then boom!!!

15.-The Book of Lost Saints - José Daniel Older

🌟🌟🌟🌟

So this book is about a spirit taking possesion of her nephew's dreams so he will investigate what happened to her, how she died as she doesn't even remember her name, her memories are super vague. We unravel the story of a Cuban family in the middle of the revolution and institution of the communist régimen, how many people were prosecuted for fighting against Castro, among them Isabel and her sister Marisol. We get another amazing plot twist (for real it made me cry) intergenerational trauma and the search of identity as an immigrant pretty great stuff.

16.- Snow Glass Apples - Neil Gaiman

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I loved it!!!! Dark retellings are some of my favorite things, and I have always liked Vampire!Snow White, this is just so creepy and good.

17. - Laura Dean Keeps breaking up with me - Mariko Tamaki

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Lots of queer representation and drama!!!! For real I just wanted to hug Freddie and tell her Laura wasn't shit. So we get the Importance of friendship and a good support system how a relationship can be toxic even if there is love (codependence isn't fun kids) and lots of relevant topics.

Gosh i really wish next month goes better, I will do another unhaul.

[anyrchyangel]

10+10 game ❤️

tag game - answer their 10 questions and then think of 10 questions to ask other friends!

tagged by: @spadebrigade

tagging: oh I definitely don’t have ten people on here 😂 so I’ll just leave this open for whoever comes across this post.

1. if you had to guess, what color would you say your aura is?

hmm I’m not really sure what color equals what but my mood is kinda “meh” right now and I feel like grey is a “meh” color, so we’ll go with grey 🤍

2. what’s one childhood memory that makes you laugh?

when I was like 8 I went fishing with my dad and lost one of my flipflops into the lake--we spent the rest of the afternoon fishing for my flipflop. It was the only thing we caught that day 😂

3. list 1-5 of your current favorite songs

>.> this is gonna be a wild list.

-Who Knows, by Crimson Apple (I found this band on TikTok and fell in love 😂)

-One Man Band, by Old Dominion (yeah >.> it’s a country song. I love Old Dominion)

-Playing God, by Paramore (one of my favorite bands ever ❤️)

-Hold Me While You Wait, by Lewis Capaldi (honestly every song from that album is 🔥)

-Finding You, by Kesha (one of my favorite quotes ever is “I know forever don’t exist, but after this life I’ll find you in the next” from that song ❤️)

told you it was wild 😂

4. do you collect anything? if so, what do you collect?

nope...well unless you count my ridiculous stockpile of notebooks and stationary “collecting” >.>

5. did you like reading the assigned books in school?

heck yeah! I loved Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey and I adored a lot of our Shakespeare readings! King Lear is probably my favorite though. 

6. what’s a weird dream you’ve had recently, or one that’s stuck with you for a long time?

hmm...I tend to forget my dreams pretty quickly but I keep having this recurring dream that’s uhm... Rated M for Mature >.>

7. would you rather be able to fly, read minds, be super strong, or bend one element (fire, air, earth, or water)?

ohhh I’m really torn over being a water bender or being able to fly...I think I’ll pick water bender :3 (and yes, I am currently thinking about an ATLA crossover 😂)

8. what’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but never got around to doing?

traveling. I want to travel everywhere--I still plan on traveling when I can so idk if this counts for this questions >.>

that wasn’t a good answer so here’s another one: I wanted to learn how to play the violin in undergrad but I didn’t have a whole lot of time. Still would like to learn but...unlikely 😂

9. what’s something you cried about recently?

>.> I’m a crybaby over my favorite books and I recently started rereading TGCF so...lots of tears for Xie Lian 😭😭😭

10. what 3 smells would be in your love potion? (sorry this is a harry potter reference but basically the 3 smells that make you happiest)

hmm I guess lavender, sandalwood, and I love the way azaleas smell so ima toss those in too o:

there’s a high possibility that if I was a wizard in Harry Potter I would probably f*ck up so bad my love potion exploded....

My questions: I doubt anyone will see this but if you do, feel free to reblog and answer my questions! ❤️ :D

1. do you have any hobbies? what are they?

2. what’s your favorite book or book series?

3. favorite TV show? (anime included of course!)

4. what do you do to unwind/release stress? (tag me so I can find more ways to destress >.>)

5. do you have any pets? what is his/her name?

6. have you ever traveled outside of your country?

7. do you have an iPhone or an Android?

8. what’s the song that always makes you sing along?

9. are you a morning person or a night owl?

10. what’s your favorite color? (bonus points, do you have any particularly specific reason for liking this color?)

[bronanlynch]

hamlet, much ado, CORIOLANUS, henry the fifth (guess which one I had to c&p)

tbh I assumed u were just really really excited abt coriolanus which like. valid and mood

HAMLET: Do you have any specific/creative ideas on staging a production of Hamlet?

oh boy do I........ ok first of all I would def borrow some of the set/lighting stuff from the production that I saw a few months ago (the one with ruth negga as hamlet) bc there was a lot of really really cool stuff w doors and silhouettes that I thought was super effective. also extremely a fan of having hamlet played by a woman or a transmasc actor bc like. ok. I don’t think trans!hamlet was necessarily what that production was going for but that’s how it came across to me, a transmasc person like. I’ve seen hamlet played by women in a way that felt like hamlet’s a woman in that version, regardless of how much or little they change the script/pronouns. the ruth negga version was like. oh. hamlet is trans and also even if that wasn’t what they were going for it’s still the only portrayal of a transmasc character that’s ever resonated with me personally. not to get into gender stuff but I very rarely feel like I recognize myself in fictional depictions of trans people but something abt this specific hamlet just. really vibed w me y’know? something about the mannerisms and the costuming and the way his depression isn’t specifically abt his gender stuff but that sure doesn’t help (all the layers of being referred to/referring to himself as unmanly, talking abt hating femininity contrasted w how much this version of hamlet clearly cared abt ophelia+gertrude, another reason for everyone to disapprove of his relationship, etc)

anyway tl;dr my ideal production would make hamlet trans, also I’ve been kinda vaguely considering what the costuming might look like if u set it further back in history like. more like the time that the sources shakespeare was working on were from bc then I could use the stuff I learned for my dissertation abt early medieval clothing for something

also I hate how every single production I’ve ever seen has done ophelia’s ~madness so I wanna do a version where she’s playing the same game hamlet is of like. pretending to ~go mad~ so that ppl won’t see her as a threat except it doesn’t work bc there’s a moment when she’s like. giving out the flowers and too much of her anger comes through at claudius. when she leaves the stage for the last time claudius gestures for one of his guards to follow her out with the implication that he’s having her killed (later, when gertrude comes back to say that she’s dead, so does that guard and claudius nods like. yeah good job u did the thing). also laertes tries to follow ophelia when she leaves but claudius stops him, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t play it like that he can’t just let her go like that

also also if hamlet doesn’t die in horatio’s arms what’s even the point, from a narrative perspective as well as a homoeroticism perspective. also in general horatio needs to be present throughout and like. important? bc too many production neglect horatio but like. he’s the one who makes ppl care abt hamlet anyway I’m gonna stop now before I go into an entire essay

wait no that reminds me of the actual academic essay I did write abt generational conflict in hamlet and why u gotta cast the parent generation as like. obviously older than hamlet’s generation in order to get that across. also bc lots of productions cast hamlet & gertrude closer in age than hamlet & ophelia which. hmmmm. don’t love that

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: Go off about the best female character.

beatrice muchado is a strong contender but also everyone already loves her so I have less to say that hasn’t already been said, I would be tempted to say viola twelfthnight if I weren’t so firmly on team viola/cesario is trans, I love ophelia a lot but I hate the ~madness scenes, most of my favorite women in shakespeare productions I’ve seen have been women playing male roles like please I would love to talk abt the all-female julius caesar where brutus was a butch lesbian, or like. gwendoline christie as titania in midsummer except titania and oberon’s roles were swapped (which I have mixed feelings about bc the oberon/nick bottom stuff is played as a joke which like. to be fair that’s how titania/bottom is usually done and I know the joke isn’t actually just ‘haha they’re gay’ it’s abt the weird magic shit and the fact that puck and titania are messing with them but. y’know. the experience of being in an audience laughing at two dudes kissing did not make me personally feel great. however I fucking loved pretty much everything else about the production so it balances out to still being the best midsummer I’ve ever seen and also one of the best plays I’ve ever seen full stop)

also best is such a vague and subjective thing like. Idk I love a lot of them for different reasons, y’know? I do think beatrice and maybe juliet are the ones I would say are the best written, gertrude is a close third bc it really depends on how she’s played in any given production but one of my favorite parts of hamlet is in the last scene when she drinks the poison if it’s framed as her knowing exactly what’s going on and daring claudius to stop her and admit his own guilt

CORIOLANUS: Which gay pairing has the most evidence? (Conversely, which pairing do you wish had evidence?)

cesario/viola+orsino is canon send tweet. but really like. usually the cross-dressing heroine changes back into women’s clothing at the end to restore heteronormativity or whatever and I know that viola does say “hey I’m gonna go change” but never actually does and orsino still calls them cesario after that in one of his very last lines so like. I’m just sayin

 brutus and cassius’s deaths are basically the same as romeo and juliet’s, and are therefore also a pyramus and thisbe retelling, in this essay I will

HENRY V: What is the best monologue/soliloquy? in general I’m not that into king lear but edmund’s “now gods, stand up for bastards” monologue is extremely good and sexy, somewhere there’s a recording of riz ahmed doing it that’s just. chef’s kiss

as a hamlet stan my favorite hamlet soliloquy is his first one, the one that starts with “oh that this too too sullied flesh would melt,” and ends with “but break my heart for I must hold my tongue” which not to be a basic bitch but that’s one of my favorite lines in anything ever

also antony’s funeral speech for caesar gets me (almost) every goddamn time. the one singular exception to this was the shakespeare in the park production a few years ago where they were trying to do shallow modern political commentary that really didn’t work and actively undermined the themes of the play

[m11ke-wheeler]

Tagged

Rules: Answer the questions given, write ten questions of your own, and tag ten people. IM HELLA LATE TO DOING THESE BUT THANKS FOR TAGGING ME @oah-schnapp

Questions:

1) What’s one book you read that you can never read again? probably like any book that forced down my throat in school 

2) Who’s your current favorite person and why? TOM FUCKING HOLLAND bc what a cupcake ya know ??? 

3) What’s your favorite song lyric? “must be confused about me, no room for fools around me” Lonely Night by Fifth Harmony (BIG MOOD)

4) If you could change your name to anything, what would you change it to? probably to my middle name Aurora bc Sleeping Beauty 

5) Favorite line from Shakespeare? “When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.” King Lear 

6) If you could live anywhere, where would you live? Disneyland 

7) Favorite book in the Harry Potter series? I NEVER READ THE SERIES I AM SO SORRY ILL LEAVE NOW

8) What fictional universe would you have the largest chance of surviving in? immmm probably like a Disney Universe bc I'm down to sing and dance when ever where ever even though i suck

9) At a family reunion, who would you NOT want to be there the most? myself IM JOKING lol um idk actually 

10) What’s the meaning of life? (I liked this one, so I’m going to steal it) friendship and family

My Questions:

1) What’s your favorite color of all time?

2) Favorite protagonist of all time?

3) What Disney Park would you live in if given the chance?

4) What’s your dream?

5) Favorite scent?

6) Least favorite movie?

7) What’s your favorite song lyric? (i liked it so I'm stealing it hahaha)

8) Doo Wop or Psychedelic Rock?

9) Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons or Beach Boys?

10) What’s the last text you received? 

Tagging @ all you that want to do this just say i tagged you xx 

[winebrightruby]

because I'm curious: what are your favorite works of Shakespeare?

Oh man, I have to put caveats on this: I haven’t read all of Shakespeare’s plays yet, I have some I enjoy for personal reasons, and I have some I enjoy specifically for teaching. The list of plays I don’t like is far shorter than the other, so since you asked, here are things I particularly like about various plays!

The Tempest is magic and has a lot of potential to be mined in discussions of colonialism. I love Ariel, and Miranda and Ferdinand have some great speeches. Also, A Wrinkle in Time seared quotes from this play into my mind at a very young age. 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is also magic, and it’s mandatory fairy reading, and it’s just plain silly. This one is fun to teach to older students because the varying relationships offer so much material to discuss social mores and expectations. The language is so good (which is true in, like, every play), and I love fairies, okay, I have a weakness.

Much Ado About Nothing is amazing! Beatrice and Benedick are adorable, and Beatrice herself is just plain incredible, and also there’s a film adaptation in which you can watch Keanu Reeves attempt to be a villain.

The Merchant of Venice 1) contains Portia and the casket test, two of my favorite things a play can contain, and 2) contains hella gay Antonio, and 3) is useful for examining historical antisemitism, e.g. Shylock’s portrayal. 

Twelfth Night is one of the most enjoyable and beautiful plays to read. The characters are cool, the relationships are fun, there’s cross-dressing and gender confusion -- it’s a great comedy. And Feste is probably my favorite of Shakespeare’s clowns. (Fun note: this play also contains a hella gay Antonio, making me wonder if Shakespeare Knew A Guy.)

King Lear is so Extra and so, idk, baroque. It has these intriguing fairy tale elements, and Edmund is such an unabashed villain -- “Now, God, stand up for bastards!” -- the first time I read this for class, my teacher warned us to, like, emotionally prepare ourselves. It’s an enormous downer of a play, and the disaster-ness is basically unrelenting. It’s beautiful, but it’s like standing in the middle of a full orchestra while they play Bach. It’s loud and overwhelming.

Antony and Cleopatra has some of the most beautiful language in any of Shakespeare’s plays -- we used a quote from it on our wedding programs. And Enobarbus is one of my favorite characters, and Cleopatra’s last lines onstage are simply transcendent. Having said that, if you are a fan of historical Mark Antony, you probably won’t appreciate this portrayal of him  ^^;;

Richard III is a whole play from the POV of the villain, and it’s unapologetically evil and I love love love it.

Henry V is a good counterpoint, of lovely Prince Hal from Henry IV (both parts) grown and trying to be a good king. This is the source of the St. Crispin’s Day speech that everyone loves, and also I think his wooing of Katherine at the end is just plain cute. 

And I saved Othello and Hamlet for last. If I had to make a list of my top five plays with no commentary or caveats, these would both make the cut. I love them individually and I love them even more as a pair, because Othello is the most technically perfect (imo, but I have scholarly support) of Shakespeare’s plays and Hamlet is the messiest. Every scene in Othello follows logically from the one before; it flows seamlessly and takes almost no effort to follow. You can pretty much skip the scene cues and still understand this play. Hamlet, on the other hand, practically never has two consecutive scenes in the same place. People come in and out and back in; there’s time-skips and all kinda stuff. And these choices are deliberate! Othello is a military man, and Iago exploits his very straightforward mind and sincere (as in, utterly without deceit) spirit. Hamlet opens with “Who’s there?” and closes Act I with “The time is out of joint” -- Hamlet is a curious, reflective scholar (though I have Serious Issues with popular descriptions of him as some kind of wooby nerd paralyzed by indecision and melancholy), and Denmark itself is confused. It’s a mess that he has to untangle and correct, and the structure of the play itself reflects that. 

I just reread Othello with my tenth graders last month, so if I had to pick a play to sit down and reread, it would probably be Twelfth Night or Much Ado About Nothing, because of how purely enjoyable they are.