#note: thank you firmin very cool

[memoirsofamanager]

[sad drunk guy noises]

i miss my favorite little man :((

[glassprism]

Review - Phantom of the Opera Restaged Tour: July 21, 2019 (matinee)

My first live show of Phantom!

THE SHOW Prologue + Overture: Genuine goosebumps here at the Overture. The "journey to the past" aspect looks even better live. One lyric change that I hadn't noticed before was that Raoul said "Leave it" (instead of "Boy!") after winning the monkey music box. Hannibal: Trista Moldovan as Carlotta was the show stealer, and got lots of laughs. She was hilariously abusive with the ballerinas, shoving them out of the way or smacking them with her skirt. She also had a great moment with Andre during her 'Think of Me' when she got her scarf stuck on his face and continued singing while tugging quite forcefully at it. I was also quite happy to catch Kaitlyn Davis and Emma Grimsley as the Princesses; Davis in particular had some nice background moments, chatting up the managers during Carlotta's scene. I had a bit of a tough time spotting Jenna Burns in the corps, but finally caught her when I saw she was the only dancer not going en pointe.

This was also the moment where I felt myself starting to compare the show a little too much to the Copenhagen bootleg I’d just seen the day before, and finding what I was seeing onstage to be lacking. However, yelling “LOWER YOUR STANDARDS” at myself fixed that, and the show became much more enjoyable.

'Think of Me': Decently acted, no complaints here. I'm glad that Christines are no longer waving their arms around like a deranged seagull (I think we can thank Katie Travis for that?); from where I was sitting it's much less movement, but also makes them look much more elegant, in an understated sort of way. I was not a big fan of Jenna Burns's voice, though it's grown on me a bit now; something about the theater's resonance made her sound kind of throaty and sharp, and this was the song where I first noticed it. Dressing Room: Not too much to say, other than the managers being completely drunk off their butts! I was pleased to catch a glimpse of the Phantom as a stagehand; in fact, I'm not sure how anybody can miss him, because he lingers a VERY long time as he passes by Christine. First Lair: Very fine entrance by Derrick Davis, his voice booming out into the theater. The title song was about as expected, though I remember the girl next to me laughing when the Phantom swept over the music stand so enthusiastically that he threw a bunch of music sheets onto the ground. Said girl also clearly said "WTF?" during the blindfold scene in MOTN, which... yeah, totally agree. With all that said... Derrick Davis's acting was a highlight, and he's clearly doing all he can to salvage the blocking. As noted above, he very hesitant, even jumpy, in Christine's presence. There was one point where he moved to take Christine's arm and I could clearly see him reach out, pause, then slowly move to touch her. When Christine "trips" (very poorly and I definitely heard someone in the audience snort at that, but what can you do), it looked partially because it was the Phantom jerking back from touching her, and again there was a visible hesitance when he reached out scoop her up again. Jenna Burns was also pretty good here; I liked how she cradled her head against the Phantom's shoulder before he had even put her to bed. I don't like the idea of it (why are you going to sleep? You are in a strange lair with a strange man!), but she executed it well. Moving onto to 'Stranger Than You Dreamt It'... I thought Davis was much less violent than I remember him, or other restaged tour Phantoms, being (though maybe it's because the last restaged Phantom I watched was Chris Mann, who tried to upper cut Christine in this scene). His "chasing" of Christine was fairly slow and his grabbing her head didn't even look all that threatening. Nor was he all that angry, which was probably my only major criticism of him, that he could have let loose more here. I remember wondering if it was because it was Jenna Burns's first show and he was being more careful with her, or was just less comfortable and less willing to do something risky with her. Interestingly, Christine actually stood up to give him back his mask, which I thought was a nice attempt to shift the power dynamic a bit, though at this point it's too little, too late. (Oh restaged tour, you messed up the dynamic irreparably when you had the Phantom stand through most of this scene, Christine getting up for 10 seconds ain't going to change that.) 'Notes I'/'Prima Donna'/Il Muto: Not a whole lot to say here, except that David Benoit as Firmin was obsessed with money and publicity to the point where it was amusing, almost drunkenly happy with all the negative press the show was getting ("It's PUBLICITY! And the take is VAST!"). Also, due to the angle I was sitting at, I probably saw more of Carlotta, and Trista Moldovan, than I ever wanted to see when she was undressing. One thing that was cool, and which doesn't pop up often on the boots I have, was seeing the Phantom walking around atop the catwalk during the note reading scene. Il Muto was good as well, with Don Attilio getting a lot of laughs. I'm pretty sure Carlotta physically shoved Christine's Pageboy off the couch, which was also amusing, and Jenna Burns had some rather funny and realistic reactions when the cast was trying to recover from the Phantom crashing the opera. Rooftop: Not a lot to say here. I liked how Jenna Burns played the line, "Raoul, I've been there, to his world of unending night!" Instead of chasing him down like other Christines do, she kind of pushed at him but still clung to his arm - so angry but also yearning for comfort, I guess. She didn't play up the "suicide jump" too much, which might explain Jordan Craig's less-than-caring reaction - instead of kneeling and reaching for Christine, he stood for quite a while, just singing lackadaisically to her. The chandelier fall was pretty awesome, lots of sparks and crashing noises, but I don't think it dropped any plastic bits, because I ran down to the lower level to try and grab some but couldn't find any. On the other hand, I got a decent photo of the chandelier practically hanging over the front row. 'Masquerade': The main things I noticed was that Jenna Burns appears to have Katie Travis's / Eva Tavares's Star Princess dress, so boo, no shiny old school Star Princess for her. The second was that Derrick Davis's pants were rolled up high, and I mean quite high - his boots didn't reach where the pants ended, and he did not have any stockings on. I saw leg. I saw SKIN. It was bizarre and I have no idea if that's normal or just a mistake. 'Notes II'/'Twisted Every Way': Not too much to mention, again, except that Jenna Burns's slap needs more oomph to it. I didn't even hear a smack; she could have been slapping air for all I knew. There was a pretty cool effect with the speakers in 'Notes I', where they had the Phantom's voice coming from different speakers to give the effect that he was "moving" somewhere above the audience. The sitzprobe scene was good, mainly because there was a moment where the entire ensemble lost patience with Piangi being unable to sing "tangled with Don Juan" on the right note and shouted "TAN!" at him. Also, I noticed that one of the candles on the piano didn't light, so there was only one candle erupting flames. Still pretty good though. As expected, Meg was completely and ludicrously stand-offish to Christine after the rehearsal, but what was hilarious was that Christine began singing TO her ("In sleep he sang to me..."), leaving me wondering if the two were trying to play up some kind of lesbian relationship between the two (not that I'd be opposed to that...). Graveyard: Not a whole lot to say here either, though I did think Jenna Burns did a good job with this song; I think it was maybe her strongest yet, and I enjoyed how, like a few other Christines before her, she played up the anger Christine felt at her father ("Her father promised her... Her father promised her!"). She could have sustained the last note a bit longer, but that's a very minor complaint. The pyro was cool. And the gunshot effect in 'Seal My Fate' was shockingly loud, and made quite a few people giggle nervously. 'Point of No Return': Jenna Burns did nicely here, I enjoyed how she was practically laying down on the table during the, er, strawberry dangling over her mouth bit. She did start struggling away from the Phantom a bit too early - like, before the Phantom had even put his hands over her face, but like Grace Morgan and Katie Travis before her, she made it quite obvious that she knew he was the Phantom and that she was checking if anyone else did. Oh, and Derrick Davis knelt down when he proposed to her. Jenna Burns took off almost a bit too fast; it didn't give a lot of time for Derrick Davis to react to the unmasking, and he had to go tearing off after her rather quickly. This, hilariously, meant that it looked like Raoul shot the Phantom rather than the policeman behind the Phantom. 'Final Lair': Some great moments here. Derrick Davis was suitably jerky and crazed, Jenna Burns defiant and strong. (Jordan Craig was there. You know, off in the corner the tour relegates Raoul to.) I thought, again, that Davis was a bit less violent than in other videos or compared to other Phantoms; the biggest example of this is when he tossed Christine on the bed, he didn't hold her down (much) or even climb on the bed, just kind of stood shouting at her. It wasn't GREAT, but it's an improvement. He also gave a very loud gasp when he realized he was strangling Christine. Also, my favorite moment of Davis's acting - right before the kiss, as Christine is circling the Phantom, he tried to cover up his deformity from her. It was probably my moment of strongest sympathy for him. Happily, his reaction to the kiss was not as hilarity-inducing as it was on the video him, where he basically flung himself onto his belly to get away from Christine. There was some flailing and pushing away, but it looked more natural. Though I think I saw him crawl under the bed when the mob came in. Ah, the magic of theater.

Anyway, the audience was quite enthusiastic, laughing and clapping at all the right parts, and both Jenna Burns and Derrick Davis got standing ovations. A couple other notes: there were some costumes on display outside, so I snapped some photos of those - nothing anyone hasn't seen before, but it was good to get up close to them. Carlotta's black-and-white costume seemed a particular favorite, judging by the comments I heard. I bought myself a souvenir brochure and a charm bracelet that's way too big for my teeny wrist, but whatever, I now have Phantom memorabilia! I also managed to stagedoor for a bit. Unfortunately there was apparently something of a cast party going on inside, so people were slow to come out and I had to leave after only getting a couple of signatures. But I still met Jenna Burns (she was the first out, was very sweet and took time to talk to everyone in line) and Kaitlyn Davis (who, given she had "only" been in the ensemble that performance, seemed a little hesitant to sign anyone's stuff until I screwed up my courage and went "ARE YOU KAITLYN DAVIS", at which point she did sign, so yay. Though I did not tell her that she's emailed me before asking for video of herself, despite being rather tempted to do so).

So, overall... THE ACTORS Derrick Davis: Probably the highlight of the show for me. He's my favorite of all the Phantoms I've seen in the restaged tour and he lived up to my expectations, and he added in even more touches of hesitation and unsureness. There was also a nervous jerkiness to his movements, especially in 'Final Lair', that reminded me vaguely of Leroux!Phantom. Only major criticism of him, as already noted, was his a-bit-too-restrained STYDI. Otherwise, he rocked the role, and I'm quite glad to have seen him. Jenna Burns: Her very first performance, rather extraordinarily lucky of me, so I cut her a lot of slack. Having said that, she has good potential. Vocally she wasn't quite my favorite, sounding a lot like Jordan Ensign in having a bit of this sharpness in her voice throughout, though at least her vibrato wasn't so strong. Strangely she sounds better on audio than when I heard her live. Her acting was pretty good, she did everything right and was responsive to her co-actors. The main thing she needs to improve on is making it her own - she basically went through the blocking and while she acted it quite well, there wasn't anything memorable about it. I did think she was also rushing through it a bit, starting up each line without taking the time to pause and breathe and let the moment sink in, but again, that's something that comes with time. Overall, I could definitely tell she was new in the role, but there's some good stuff there once she takes the time to dig it out. Jordan Craig: Pretty much a Raoul who exists and not much else - but when it comes to the restaged tour, I'll take it. In retrospect, I think the reason I rated him so high (or at least, higher than the previous restaged tour Raouls) is because he's less aggressive than all of them - at least he's not grabbing Christine's head all the time or acting completely condescending to her. I did not care much for his voice, which sounded oddly tinny, but his acting was not egregiously bad and he had a couple of good moments (like holding Christine's hands a little longer than necessary in 'All I Ask of You') Trista Moldovan: A complete hoot, and has improved so much since I saw her on video. She's in good voice, but I remember her most for her comedic moments, acting the complete diva with all the other cast members. While I might be misremembering, I also thought she snuck in some extra lines in Italian, particularly in Il Muto when the Phantom interrupts the scene. David Benoit and Rob Lindley: Another hilarious set of cast members, both of them playing up the contrast between Firmin's business-like personality and Andre's more artistic, easily flustered temperament. Lindley's Andre was extremely funny during Il Muto too ("Yes, THANK YOU!!" as one of the fops refused to go offstage). Susan Moniz: I generally don't have much to say about Madame Giry, but I did notice that Giry in this production seemed much more... present, if that's the right word. I kept noticing her lurking in the corners or sides of the stage, just observing the proceedings in typically ambiguous manner. The most memorable was in 'Point of No Return' when Christine pulled the hood off the Phantom; I saw her emerge along with the police, which was rather interesting. Phumzile Sojola: A skinny Piangi, if I'm not mistaken! I didn't notice him that much, but he had some good moments in Hannibal ("Rommmmaaaaa! Rommmaaaa! It's very hard for me!") and was a worthy lapdog and fanboy of Trista Moldovan's Carlotta, who in turn was very defensive of him. SarahGrace Mariani: A sassy little Meg, pulling faces and, like her mother, lurking around in the background and trying to stay in the scene even when Madame Giry kept trying to shove her off. Voice could have been better - it was pretty heavy on the vibrato - but I don't expect good singing voices from Meg at this point.

The ensemble too was very strong; I remember M. Reyer was quite funny, in an overbearing and aggressive sort of way. Everyone seemed really into their role, always doing something in the background, to the point where I sometimes forgot to watch the principals because I was too busy looking at what one of the ballerinas was doing. Overall, a memorable day and a good performance for my very first live show!

[ladydracarysao3]

In Love, Serenity  

Chapter Twenty Five: Advising Friends & Influencing Nobles

Excerpt

They are presented with not one, not two, but three nesting roasts – a flagrant parade of birds stuffed within other birds. A quail is stuffed in a pheasant and then stuffed in a swan, roasted, and carved meticulously into delicate layered slices. Not only that, but the ornate and gilded banquet table where they sit is also covered with other Orlesian delicacies. Rare poached fruits, braised vegetables, piles of exquisitely crafted and braided rolls, beautiful fruit pies, and bottles upon bottles of fine Antivan wine all span across the large table in the equally large estate dining room.

It is a feast that would make Josephine envious.

[Read Chapter 25 on AO3]  or  [Start from the Beginning]

-Izzalea-

The journey into the west is arduous.  After clearing the mountains, breaking at least two wagon wheels, and crossing the beautiful forests in the Dales, the group of travelers stop at the last town before the desert wasteland. Val Firmin.

It is a standard Orlesian city, as far as Izzalea is concerned. Lots of frilly people, frilly buildings, and frilly things, but it is nice to stop in civilization nevertheless. She is surprised to witness probably the least frilly person she knows, Abner, delight in the city. As soon as camp is set in Val Firmin’s outskirts, the rogue grabs Hawke’s arm and hightails it to the walls, talking vibrantly about finding a bakery, and how she ‘will teach him the true meaning of ecstasy.’

Izzalea takes the time to restock on provisions with the assistance of the men in charge of the wagons and travel requisitions. It doesn’t take long after perusing the shops and ordering supplies that word spreads of not only the Inquisition’s presence, but the Inquisitor herself. While most people are still wary of her, suspicious of the Inquisition’s purpose, Duke Stefan de Firmin - and a collection of visiting noble associates - seizes the opportunity to entertain her and her inner circle for the evening.

Izzalea later attends an ostentatious display of wealth and flattery poorly disguised as ‘dinner.’ They are presented with not one, not two, but three nesting roasts – a flagrant parade of birds stuffed within other birds. A quail is stuffed in a pheasant and then stuffed in a swan, roasted, and carved meticulously into delicate layered slices. Not only that, but the ornate and gilded banquet table where they sit is also covered with other Orlesian delicacies. Rare poached fruits, braised vegetables, piles of exquisitely crafted and braided rolls, beautiful fruit pies, and bottles upon bottles of fine Antivan wine all span across the large table in the equally large estate dining room.

It is a feast that would make Josephine envious. Izzalea is sure her ambassador would want her to take notes on everything, perhaps even convince the Duke’s chef to lend aid to the Inquisition, but she is sure that Madame Vivienne is already securing such feats and then some. Izzalea watches the Grand Enchanter amusedly as she delights the Duke in rhetoric that Izzalea herself hasn’t the patience for. Izzalea smiles and nods when appropriate, adding as little to the conversations as she can get away with while still being gracious and gallant to the Duke and his guests.

Even though she is of noble birth, she’s never enjoyed noble gatherings. Ever. She secretly wishes she could have skipped the dinner all together like Blackwall managed to do. The man had positively disappeared by the time everyone was ready to go. Of course there were others not in attendance as well. Solas, Sera, Bull, Abner, and Cole were all deemed ‘unfit’ to attend such an affair by the enchanter.

“A shabby elven apostate, a belligerent elven delinquent, a qunari spy, a dirty chasind, and a demon are not guests for a Duke, my dear,” Vivienne had said before they left for the estate that evening.

When Izzalea angrily protested the harsh criticism, Vivienne promptly set her in her place. “Do you want to gain more support for the Inquisition, or do you want to damage its fragile reputation further? Choose wisely, my dear. There will be other Lords and Lady’s in attendance, including Lady Seryl of Jader who has already expressed sympathy for your divine cause in the past. She is an ally that cannot be discounted. It is your duty to put your best assets in the forefront during this fortunate, albeit accidental, turn of events. One can never know when one may need to call upon friends in high places, darling. While you may enjoy the company of mixed allies, it fails to be the more important issue at this juncture.”  

Izzalea sips wine from a beautiful crystal glass and glances around the table at her included companions, the ones deemed worthy enough to attend and represent the Inquisition. Varric has been forced to endure countless prying questions due to his notoriety as an author. Apparently, the Duke’s wife, Duchess Caralina de Firmin, is an ardent fan of his saucier fictions. Cassandra’s royal lineage caused her to be considered essential, much to her chagrin. Cassandra hates these types of functions even more than Izzalea. Hawke’s title and celebrity also made him a requirement, as did Alistair’s blight-ending infamy. Dorian was ordered to keep his Tevinter comments down to nil. He was also permitted to bring his mage assistant, Aurora, because Vivienne thinks the woman has a stoic poise that is acceptable and even preferred at such occasions, as long as she abstains from drinking any of the wine.

The magical researcher had been drinking herself into a sour, silent, stupor most of the early nights during their journey. She often rides her mare in a quiet hangover. Even so, she thankfully has been slowly relaxing. Izzalea has noticed that she and Dorian spend most of their time side by side, murmuring little conversations while riding or sitting around the fire, until they retire to their shared tent. The last few nights, Izzalea has even noticed the mage smiling and partaking in debates about magical techniques with the other mages in camp. Izzalea is relieved that she seems to be mending from the violent altercation before they left.

“My Lady Inquisitor, you must do me the honor of staying here in my home tonight,” the Duke says, pulling Izzalea from her thoughts. “I cannot bear to have you sleeping in a dusty tent outside the city when I have a suitable bed here for someone of your station.”

“That is very kind of you,” she smiles and bows her head as she speaks. “But I have such an early rise in the morning. I couldn’t live with myself if I disturbed you or your lovely guests any more than I already have. As much as I would love to accept your gracious offer, the call to my righteous purpose unfortunately means I must sacrifice life’s finer pleasures.” She can’t get out of this ridiculous estate fast enough. The talk of staying longer makes her gut pinch. Perhaps it is time to find her exit, before any more insistence is pressured.

“I am impressed that Andraste’s Herald takes her duty so seriously. Though you are from Ostwick, I am sure even still that the harsh change of which your noble birth is accustomed is truly tested time and time again during your mission. The fact that you are so willing to endure such hardship for the Maker and your quest for divine justice is endlessly inspiring, Inquisitor,” Lady Seryl says from across the table. “If I can ever be of use to your cause, please do not hesitate to ask. And I must admit, I have been in contact with your lovely Ambassador for some time now. Seeing you here tonight with your dignity and determination has done nothing but bring me great pleasure and confidence that my faith has not been misguided when I chose to support you and your endeavors. How truly lucky I am, no, how truly lucky we all are, to have been here in Val Firmin during your journey.”

“You are too kind, my Lady. The Inquisition is grateful for your support.” Izzalea rises from her seat, and bows to the nobles peppering the edges of the table betwixt her companions. Slowly, cautiously, her friends begin to rise as well, taking the cue and hoping this means they all get to leave now. “If you will please excuse us, we have a long road ahead. I cannot thank you enough for hosting us during this wonderful evening. May Andraste watch over you all.”

Nailed it.

Maybe.

Who can say when dealing with these types, but she feels good about it. Evading the request was probably the wrong move, given the way she noticed Vivienne’s eye twitch when she said it, but Lady Seryl seemed pleased by her display of humility.

No matter what damage or assistance her presence has done for the Inquisition this night, Izzalea is ready to leave.

She and her cohorts continue in what feels like never-ending farewells and sycophancy until they are finally released into the cool night air. The yellow glow emanating from the windows of the ornate estate twinkles in the dark blue ambient light of late evening. Most of her friends mount their awaiting horses and begin to trot down the road toward camp, relief writ plainly on their faces.

Izzalea sneaks Ebony a stolen braised carrot and calls for Cassandra to hang back with her, requesting to walk their horses instead of ride. She feels the need to have a normal conversation with her closest ally and friend after the night of lofty facades. No one ever really saying what they mean. Everyone forced to participate in a dance of hidden agendas.

Cassandra agrees and the pair walk from the estate down its gravel carriage way. They lead their horses slowly, not speaking at first. Rather, they revel in the silence of the night. Sounds still travel from their friends trotting and laughing ahead of them. Hawke apparently couldn’t wait to reach even the edge of the property before ridiculing and sniping about things people had said. Eventually, they have a far enough lead on the warrior women that the only sounds come from their boots and their horses’ hooves crunching on gravel.

“With everything that has been going on lately, and this large group of ours, you and I haven’t had much time to just chat, just the two of us. How goes it, my friend?” Izzalea asks, stirring Cassandra from whatever she had been quietly contemplating.

“As good as can be expected, I suppose.”

“I noticed that Azzedine didn’t come to see you off before we left Skyhold…” Izzalea knows she is prying, but she can’t help herself. It feels like it’s been ages since she got to talk to her brother. Cassandra is the only other person who has regular dealings with him, and while Izzalea has hoped a romance was blossoming, she has suspicions that it had mired.

“That was by design.”

Not the response she had hoped to hear. “Oh? Are things… not going well?”

Cassandra grunts. “Lord Trevelyan can be,” she pauses searching for a word, “trying. He seems to think if he wants something, it should just be handed to him without question. Even if that something is me.”

“He’s not the best at relationships,” Izzalea concedes with a sigh.

“That… is an understatement.”

“If it’s any consolation, our parents really did a number on us. In fact, Dean has never even had an actual relationship before. He resolved himself to bachelorhood, told me he would pass the estate down to a niece or nephew. Mother tried to match him. Noble fathers have approached him often. But, he’s never had an interest in anyone. That is… until you, Cassandra.” The seeker doesn’t comment on Izzalea’s admission.  

They continued in silence for a while, Izzalea wondering if she overstepped. She cares so much for her brother and also for Cassandra. She wants them both to find happiness, even if that means she steps on stubborn toes.

��Our parents were once in love… so I’ve heard, anyway. Dean saw it first hand when he was young. But something happened. Our father… He… well, things happened. Now he parades young mistresses around like it’s nothing. Our mother, she keeps a strong face. It’s the only one I know. She became completely devoted to the chantry, devoted to raising strong and respectable children. That took a toll on Dean. We always thought love was fleeting. So, what was the point?” She stops and grabs Cassandra’s arm, turning the seeker to face her. “You’re an exception, Cass.”

Casandra’s eyes fall and she looks to the side, evading the emotions Izzalea is undoubtedly stirring. “I’m sorry,” Izzalea says, feeling like she has done too much, even though she felt so compelled to do it. She grabs Ebony’s reigns tighter and pushes on. Cassandra follows, her stare distant and emotional.

“You do not seem to have been affected by your upbringing with regards to how you deal with Cullen,” she says after a few minutes of silence.

Izzalea puffs a sharp breath of laughter. “Oh, it has. I… I never thought I would find anyone either. I treated love as a novelty. The complete opposite of Azzedine, really.” She laughs under her breath and shakes her head. “In fact my mother always said I had ‘too much’ of my father in me. Never taking anything seriously. Her ‘rebellious child doomed to a life of ridiculous.’” She sighs a heavy, weighted sigh and stares up at the stars as they walk. “With Cullen… At first it was just lust, another game. I mean just look at him, he is… woof… he is something.” Cassandra barks a laugh that makes Izzalea feel more at ease and she smiles while darting a look to her friend from the corner of her eye.

“But…” she continues, dropping her voice to a pensive, sullen sound. “If I’m honest, he makes me feel things that I don’t know how to handle. I flirt with him, but I’m not sure how to actually open up to him. I don’t know how to be vulnerable. I’ve never wanted to be vulnerable. I just kind of… kiss him, and that’s it. It’s hard for me to trust someone in that way.”

“Cullen is a good man.”

“So is Azzedine.” She stops again, petting the snout of Ebony. She looks at the soft glow of Cassandra’s skin in the pale moonlight. “I know he can be arrogant and a little too serious, but that’s just who my mother taught him to be. She is like an Iron Lady. But he has a soft side, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing it firsthand.”

Izzalea thinks she detects a soft smile from the seeker before she says, “It is getting late, shall we ride the rest of the way?”

“Yes, that’s probably a good idea.”

The two women mount their horses and ride their way back to camp, they see the dotted lights from the fires between clusters of tents before anything else. Upon arrival, they tend to their horses and then Casandra leaves for her tent. The seeker usually turns in early so that she can rise, limber up, and spar a little in the morning before everyone else wakes. Izzalea thinks she also likes to read her saucy romance novels alone, rather than deal with the shenanigans of camp fire rowdiness.

When they part ways, Izzalea walks over to the fire burning closest to her tent. It seems many have retired for the evening, but Alistair still sits on a log, perched and staring into the fire. Varric is next to him, mumbling something, but stops when he sees Izzalea approach. All she hears is, “He will. You need to let it go.”

Izzalea sits on the other side of Alistair and smiles. She smacks hims playfully on the back of his shoulder as she settles. “Hi guys! How’s it going?”

Alistair doesn’t respond more than and shrug and a grunt, she leans past him to see Varric. The dwarf shrugs at her, more lightheartedly than the warden, smiles, and brings a jug of something to his lips. Izzalea leans forward with her elbows on her knees, and rests her chin in her hands, peering into the fire. It is then that she sees Hawke is on the other side, a little farther away and almost out of range for the orange glow to illuminate his figure. He is leaning against and facing a tree. Abner is pinned between the champion and said tree, and they seem to be sharing a moment so intense and private that Izzalea immediately feels like a letch for having seen it. She smiles anyway, happy that some people are so comfortable with their feelings.

Izzalea looks at Alistair again, this time she realizes that he isn’t looking into the fire. He is staring past it and at the couple beyond, and he is seething. His eyes are narrowed, jaw set tight, and he has a frown that is somehow straight and biting as well as plunging. Why would he be seething? “Are you… missing Lymeria?” she asks with hesitation. Perhaps the warden is an envious type.

He grunts and shakes his head before rising. “Something like that,” he says with a sneer in Hawke’s direction. He throws a small glass bottle that once held ale into the fire. The high-pitched shattering sound jerks the heads of Abner and Hawke toward the warm, orange lit trio opposite them, and Alistair turns to leave.

“Don’t worry about the Warden, Rusty,” Varric says as the lovebirds go back to their canoodling, and Alistair disappears into the small tent city behind them. “He’s just a little cranky and tired. One of those nobles wouldn’t stop asking him questions about the Hero of Ferelden. It’s probably best if we all just go to bed and put this crazy night behind us.”

“Alright, goodnight Varric,” she says while rising again. It seems there will be no jokes or comradery on this evening as there have been in the past. “I think you’re right. It’s been a long day.” She nods at the dwarf before they go their separate ways. She crinkles her brows together and shakes her head, knocking out that strange altercation with the warden before entering her tent. Before turning in, she lights a candle, grabs her vellum for missives, and jots down a note for tomorrow’s ravens.

Dean-o,

Now is the time. You have to buck up and show yourself to her. A grand romantic gesture. I’m talking candles, flowers, stars, poetry! The works. You have a couple months to plan something epic.

Do it.

Do me proud, brother. Take the leap. I believe in you.

I will keep her safe, don’t disappoint.

-Izz

She smiles to herself and folds the note, carefully sticking it with a stack of other messages to be sent back to Skyhold in the morning. Blowing out the candle, she settles into her bedroll and wonders if she needs to heed her own advice.