#or are they (also me) caught up in the gorgeous animation and choreography and music and new story pacing

[whatacartouchebag]

Hrm 🙃

[obstinaterixatrix]

overall thoughts: EXTREMELY good production of merrily, super worth seeing, I loved it

negative notes: sound team was not on point and there were several times throughout the show where people were singing or speaking but the mic didn’t turn on until their next line; brass section struggled with the high notes in the beginning, but performed very well after that so maybe they just needed a warmup

set notes: they did SUUUUCH a good job transforming the set, when I first saw it my thought was actually ‘are they gonna wheel it back or something? it doesn’t look like they’d have enough space to do the musical husbands sequence with a backdrop’ and then I was delighted by the many transformations they did with the set. the circular indent on the wall would sometimes turn to reveal something new, and sometimes people would just hang something up on it during the scene transitions. there was tasteful artwork for apartments, clocks for the news station, the emblem of the court, art for the 60s, and then it… somehow became square?? I was super mystified by that, it was interesting to track. AND THE LIGHTING THROUGH THE WINDOWS WAS SOOO GOOD, I couldn’t tell whether they projected a cityscape or it was somehow lighting/cutouts only, and the starry sky visuals were soooo gorgeous… ALSO having a visible balcony with windows gave opportunities for great background action/interaction, during the scene where Gussie goes like ‘can they see us’ Frank looks over and you can see Charlie leaning over and giving Frank A Look

orchestra notes: THEM BEING UP ON THE SECOND FLOOR WAS SO COOL… most of the time you couldn’t see them because the blinds were drawn, also at one point during the news station sequence I could see a reflection of the monitor that shows the conductor on the window. I threw brass section under the bus but it was a really good orchestra (and brass didn’t take too long to shape up), during the overture people started cheering which I’ve never seen before, folks were sooo hype. deserved, it’s such a good overture.

sound notes: I also was harsh on the sound guys but other than that there was a lot of really good… sound design? like there’s the old camera with the flash and there was the… like sound before the pop and the pop, it was really cool. and the type writer sounds came through really clear, though idk if that’s more on… props..?

misc notes: first of all a guy dropped his glass and honestly I love when that kinda thing happens lmao sorry not in a mean way I just think it’s interesting to see how people recover. anyway, this gussie was REALLY energetic, there were a lot of things that made me like her—when she has that line, “she’s out on the lawn doing her fawn impression” the actress starts fluttering her eyelashes rapidly, and at the end of the fight with frank she LUNGES, like she LEAPS OFF THE GROUND and gets caught in midair, I was delighted. the actress is black and during the different scenes there were a lot of different hairstyles for her, which was really cool to see through the decades.

they actors (and presumably the director) did SUUUUUCH a good job with the frank-mary-charlie dynamic, there were a lot of beats they just added or emphasized—in the news station scene, mary flynn does her “he still calls me” bit and her, frank, and charlie all do a snap, like the equivalent of a rimshot. and the choreography for old friends was SO INSANELY GOOD!!! there were a lot of gestures and prompting, mary flynn very obviously nods her head towards frank to start the song which gives a whole different flavor to ‘hey old friend/are you okay old friend’ versus productions where frank starts unprompted. there’s a lot of Pointed Delivery and reactions (e.g. ‘I mean a divorce court/what a fascinating setting’ gets a more uncertain/unenthusiastic ‘right’ lol). in general this mary flynn was SOOO funny and so good at being super super expressive, she stood out in her scenes

charlie’s played much more neurotic prey animal here compared to 2013, and. okay this is going to sound insane to anyone else but bear with me. imo, 2013 had homoerotic tension between frank and charlie but 2023 had no homoerotic tension and I think it’s because 2023 *really* emphasizes the relationship decay—after old friends, frank goes in for a hug and charlie BLOCKS HIM LOOOOOOL I thought that was hysterical. also, 2013 charlie I think played him like… obviously neurotic but much more comfortable in his neuroticism, like the stuff he says are on-purpose quips or him making a joke even if he’s the only one who finds it funny, whereas 2023 charlie did the ‘I collaber him, he collabers me’ joke and immediately goes like. ‘sorry.’ it’s a different nuance, I like both. another interesting thing about 2023 charlie is that during the kennedy song he keeps specifically going to beth’s parents to try to appeal to them, which I thought was fun—he’s always emphasizing how he’s not into working the room and how all of that is more frank’s domain, but he’s putting a lot of effort to try and help frank get into his soon-to-be-in-laws’ good graces. he’s very bad at it, but he’s really really trying lol.

frank’s actor did suuuuch a good job with how frank holds himself during the years, there’s a lot of enthusiasm that you see more and more of as he gets younger and younger—it’s a really good gradual transformation. sister was saying that she likes 2023 frank more than 2013 frank, and honestly? yeah I get it I see why.

they had a really young kid play frank jr and the audience loved him lol. even though his mic wasn’t on, while he was walking off the stage I faintly heard him ask mary flynn “how did I do”—he helped sell some merch for broadway cares and was clearly hamming it up for the laughs

ok this is really long so I’ll end it here (unless I think of anything else)

that is such a cool place for the orchestra and also this set looks SOOOO good I’m SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!

[canmom]

PMMM?

Oooh, OK then. So I actually wrote an Animation Night post on Madoka, back on Animation Night 10 - hard to believe that's 81 weeks ago now. Back then, though, my posts were much shorter and I didn't discuss the production in much detail. However I did end up talking about SHAFT again later in the post about Kizumonogatari on Animation Night 51.

Anyway, I love Madoka. I admit, my engagement with the series has just been the original anime and Rebellion, and not any of the expanded world of gacha games and manga and the spinoff anime adapting the gacha - but I would rank Rebellion as one of my favourite animated films and I can't wait to see what they do with the upcoming sequel.

Last time I wrote about Madoka, I mostly wrote about Gen Urobuchi. I generally speaking think he's an immensely talented writer and I've enjoyed basically all the stuff he's worked on from Psycho-Pass to Fate Zero (yet to watch through Kamen Rider Gaim or play Sayo no Uta but I hear great things), but Madoka wouldn't be half the show it is without the incredible design work of Ume Aoki, distinctive direction of Yukihiro Miyamoto [and Akiyuki Shinbo overseeing all SHAFT projects, but see below], fantastic animation of too many key animators to name, gorgeous music of Kalafina and of course the absolutely brilliant Jan Švankmajer-influenced [Animation Night 50] collage animation of the incredibly talented duo Gekidan Inu Curry [see sakugablog for a nice retrospective of them].

The Madoka series excels in choreography and storyboarding - the classic austere, geometric SHAFT environments and striking camera angles, and the abstracted dance-like action sequences in which aesthetic elements and symbols flow into each other. And then they kick that up another notch or several in the movie, which indulges fully in Inu Curry's style. I still consider it some of the most beautiful sequences of animation set to music I've ever seen.

Anyway, I've only seen a bit of the SHAFT oeuvre (alongside Madoka, that's Bake- and Kizumonogatari), although the story of the studio is fascinating, like something out of a play - the charismatic Akiyuki Shinbo and his friends reorganising a fairly minor studio into one of the most distinctive of its time. Let me quote kVin (who else?):

The task Shinbo received at SHAFT wasn’t simple: he wasn’t going to direct a new series, but rather the whole studio. He became an overall supervisor of their entire output, while also guiding younger artists to make sure this style would live on. This marked the beginning of his unusual moonlighting, juggling jobs in a way that didn’t really allow him to do as much classic directorial work. To date, Shinbo has never been the sole director of a SHAFT series because he can’t. But he didn’t face this crazy challenge all by himself, of course. With his good pals Tatsuya Oishi and Shin Oonuma they formed the appropriately nicknamed Team Shinbo; a group of artists with compatible sensibilities, who had worked together in the past, and shared the desire to construct a new SHAFT.

kVin notes that the SHAFT style is an heir, through the influence of artist Nobuyuki Takeuchi who had had a significant role on Utena, to an incredibly influential director I've still yet to give a proper discussion on Animation Night, Osamu Dezaki, by way of - of course - the master of symbolism-dense, technically avant-garde anime, Kunihiko Ikuhara. I'll save a full discussion of that for another time, though. In any case, this was successful - perhaps too successful. Many of their best animators got caught up for years in the sprawling Kizumonogatari project, while kVin and other commenters more familiar with their work say the SHAFT style, once bold and innovative, became frozen in and lost its original contextual meaning, and some years later many SHAFT staff ended up leaving the studio for less overbearing work environment.

Madoka came just two years after Bakemonogatari, though, so the Team Shinbo style was still plenty fresh. Not surprisingly, it was quickly a huge hit. In Western fandom, it kind of became that meme show, where the magical girls have guns and being meguca is suffering. There's a bunch of extremely bad misreadings out there (it's grimdark! it's a 'deconstruction'! and the backlash to that - didn't you hear, gen urobuchi wants little girls to not have hope!) but that's just how anime fandom is I guess. It's certainly in dialogue with other magical girl shows, but to me it seems in a clearly appreciative way. Thematically, it's frankly not too far afield from something like Sailor Moon.

But you've asked for me to answer an ask meme, so let me do that instead :p

haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite

don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing | 5 star recommendation

fav characters: Homura - more on that when we get to 'unpopular opinion'! - and Kyōko, I generally really like the concept of a burned out cynical traumatised magical girl lol

least fav characters: is it too easy to say Sayaka's cardboard violin-playing boyfriend with nonspecific anime disease whose name I can't even be bothered to look up? I guess that's the whole tragedy of her character, she wants to save this boy who just resents her for it, but you can do so much better Sayaka!

fav relationship: haha well Homura/Madoka is obviously the central framing one innit, but actually there are dynamics I really like here, especially in Rebellion. again, more on that in 'unpopular opinions'. outside of that, I think you could write pretty good fic of just about any pair of girls. They hint a bit at Sayaka/Kyōko during the last big fight sequence in Rebellion (possibly more earlier? it's been a while?) and that's cute. I admit I'm not much of a shipper these days.

fav moment: There's many I could name, but one I keep coming back to is the sequence in Rebellion when the magical girl squad deploys and each of the girls gets a brief abstract sequence illustrating their vibe. The music and imagery is sooo good here. I also love the gunfight later in the film with the time-frozen bullet trails. And the incredible climactic battle when the whole world breaks down around Homura as she realises the truth of what's going on and becomes a witch again. Am I just naming the whole of Rebellion at this rate? OK, I admit it, years on in which I've watched literally hundreds more animated films, I still think this one's great.

headcanons/theories: This is clearly a redemptive headcanon that's not especially well signalled by the text, but the reason for all the nonsensical stuff about entropy and ancient aliens is that Kyubey is a low-level functionary who doesn't understand anything half as well as it pretends. The Incubators didn't cultivate human civilisation over the centuries and give us technologies, that's just a convenient lie in the moment, and Kyubey doesn't really understand what it is that they're harvesting from the magical girls very well at all. But because the girls are like, what, middle schoolers, they don't have the background to pull Kyubey up on his misunderstanding of thermodynamics lol.

unpopular opinion: OK. oKAY. let's do this again shall we. strap in. I went over this some time previously when I first watched Rebellion (good god that was hard to find, tumblr's search functions are a travesty) but my comments amounted mostly to *gestures at Stirner, who I hadn't read and still haven't*, so let's have another shot at justifying this Take...

Here we go: I still don't think Homura is the bad guy at the end of Rebellion. Which seems to be the shared opinion of every girl I know who's seen the film but in wider fandom is basically nonexistent as a take. I don't necessarily think Homura has the answer, but I don't think Madoka permanently sacrificing herself for the sake of every hurting person in the universe was a happy ending in the first place - Homura's insistence on being the one to save Madoka and her lack of imagination in trying to reconstruct the pantomime of a 'normal' life is surely an unhealthy fixation, but she's right that the situation was intolerable and something did have to be done about it. The tension between Madoka's agency and Homura's, and whether their desires and self-sacrificing impulses can be reconciled, is a productive one.

Now, the end of Madoka is something that produces endless interpretations. Back in May last year there was a fascinating discussion on here between @azdoine, @businesstiramisu and @anarcha-catgirlism getting into the characters' various saviour complexes and the possible religious readings of their arcs in the series's broadly Buddhist cosmology.

Visually, the film pulls out all the symbols in the SHAFT toolkit to suggest that Homura is as evil as she makes out - the mouth closeups, the headtilts, the cadence and tone of the dialogue. But it also gives us quite a few lines of evidence that Homura is onto something. Notably, it makes clear that Homura has not saved Madoka at the expense of all the other Magical Girls - outside her pocket universe, the Law of the Cycle still exists. Whether Madoka can truly be happy there is another question. It also gives us a very blatant image that Madoka as 'Madokami' is still suffering with an arm covered in self-harm scars:

Admittedly this film is about as visually dense as an Ikuhara anime and I don't blame anyone for not reading the implications in this very brief cut but it's fairly important, I think. Madokami may be taking the girls up to heaven, but it's a very impersonal heaven, and the strain it's placing on her is evident. Because I've increasingly caught on that a universal self-sacrificing impulse to save everyone, however understandable, isn't actually a great thing.

Even if you can't sympathise with Homura - and I admit, a lot of my sympathy comes for her rhetoric (desire over rules) more than her actions, and you could make an argument that trapping Madoka in a false pocket universe after struggling to escape one made by the Incubators and herself across the whole film is deeply ironic - overall, in any case, I feel that the ending of Rebellion is at least a very apt extension of the tragic arcs of the two characters. Not to mention a fascinating discussion point and far richer than the happy ending that was, I believe I read at one point, originally planned before Shinbo requested a darker ending.

Yeah, it is very sudden, probably too much so - that presentation does make it seem like a 'shocking twist! Homura's bad now' which is perhaps one reason why a lot of people reacted badly to it. I'm not exactly sure where they should have foreshadowed it; at least it's not like they don't spend a lot of time on it afterwards showing you just where Homura is coming from.

how’d you find it: Without Rebellion, I feel like Madoka is 'merely' a very good magical girl anime with excellent art direction, some creative twists on the format, and a darker tone than usual... with Rebellion, it's something fascinating that has completely hooked me.

So I really can't wait to see if they can keep the ball rolling in the Rebellion sequel, whenever that lands. Although the breakup of Kalafina will be a tragic blow. I don't know how you do Madoka without Kalafina.

random thoughts: More a bit of trivia than anything, but as far as one of the lasting influences of Madoka, Yoko Taro asked Kimihiko Fujisaka to think of the series when designing the Intoners for Drakengard 3. Which proved to be a great decision.

I admit, there's a whole side of Madoka which I am not familiar with. I tried starting Magia Record once but bounced off what seemed to be a simple recap of the opening beats of the series - I need to give it another shot some time because there are some spectacular clips from season 2. Per some of @azdoine's posts which I only vaguely recall, it sounds like they've been monkeying around a bit with retconning some of the themes and logic of the series which would be a shame but whatever, I don't believe in 'canon'.

Hope that satisfies you as an answer, anon!

[writer-akihiko]

Chapter 1 - Meeting Him [QuartetNight Ver.]

Chapter 2  →

Camus Cryszard

As a student of Saotome Music High, everyone is mostly expected to either categorise themselves in common stereotypes. You, however, were not one of those people.

The moment you entered the school and had to pick a course; your heart had already decided. You had a passion for music, but not for playing or composing, rather, conducting.

You were quite well-known in Saotome, after all you were the first female in the history of Saotome's conducting course. Due to this, you had developed an instinct to try harder and be more ambitious.

As a project to pitch to the principal to include you in Saotome's premier concert for scouters, you had to come up with a new arrangement.

Carrying your composing files, you enter your practice hall where your usual orchestra group waited for you to arrive. To your surprise, there was a person lecturing them.

The tall man had his locks in a low ponytail. As you stepped in, the orchestra looked at you. Noticing that they weren't paying attention to him anymore, the man looked at you as well.

"Another late member?" He harshly said.

You were taken aback, but smoothly replied. "I'm their conductor. I wasn't informed that anyone else would be observing today."

The faces of your orchestra members were relieved from whatever scolding this man gave them. "Please do tell what you were lecturing my orchestra about," You said to the man, arranging your pieces on your desk.

"I was simply asking your party here why they feel that the practice halls can also be for horseplay and loitering," he crosses his arms, giving you a blaming look.

You sighed. "Fukuda, did everyone finish their tasks before I got here?"

The orchestra leader nodded immediately, then silently sitting down as you and the odd long-haired man have your showdown.

You turn to the man. "Great. I don't see why they cannot relax if they finish their tasks, Mr..."

"Camus. However I believe that there is no time to relax when your proposal is soon, LN-san."

"If this misunderstanding is cleared up, you can sit near the desk and begin your observation Mr Camus," You prepare yourself at the podium.

"Very well LN."

The two of you glared at each other the whole practice as the orchestra awkwardly play the whole time.

Ai Mikaze

You had a meeting with Ai Mikaze, a popular idol of the group Quartet Night. You were going to talk to him about the new ending track for the new season of the anime you were starring in.

You were a popular voice actress with a boyish wild attitude despite some of the cutesy roles you took on. Your fans still loved you anyway, to which you are extremely grateful for. Most of your roles consist of characters from shounen animes, but you still had some other roles in fictional idol games and shoujo animes.

The song that was meant for the ending track was about the character you voiced as, the main protagonist. You had to get Ai Mikaze to understand the personality of your character and honour it through the ending. The first episode is going to be released in two weeks’ time, meaning you had no time to waste. You walked into the studio and asked for the number of the recording room. You pushed the door open and found the famous Ai Mikaze standing there, looking at what seems to be a script.

"Hey there, name's LN YN. Nice to meet you Mikaze-kun!" You enthusiastically chirped.

He didn't reply and just stared at you.

"Umm..."

"Are you sure you are LN-san?" He said.

"Yes, I am..." You answered, quite confused. "Anyway, let's get on with the script!"

Deciding to forget about that awkward situation, you took a seat.

"What do you think about your character?" He asked you, taking a seat as well.

"What?"

"What do you think about your character?"

"I heard you the first time..." You corrected. He started to look puzzled. "Well I think with the new arc going on she's going to have to face her past. That's in the song, right?"

He handed me a piece of paper. It was the lyrics pre-written. "What?! This doesn't sound like her at all! How could they disgrace my precious child like this?"

Ai continued to stare at you with wide eyes. "Um, sorry Ai. There must be a mistake in the song here. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Sorry for wasting your time."

"We could fix it together," He insisted.

"Huh?"

You two spent the rest of the week fixing the song together. It was later re-approved by the audio director who thanked both of you for doing so.

He's a little odd, you thought. He's still nice though.

Reiji Kotobuki

You were a paramedic in training. You were quite studious and serious most of the time, even outside of your job. Your senior today was hired for the rehearsal concert of the popular idol group, Quartet Night.

You and your senior were watching from the side lines. The group was practicing the choreography to Poison Kiss. You didn't know the members much, but their songs often came on the radio.

Crash!

One of the idols fell to the floor. Your senior decided that you should examine the guy as he observes you. You nodded, grabbing your kit and running to the fallen idol.

The idol was panting, clutching his ankle. You asked his bandmate, a silver haired man. "Can you get him to sit on a chair?" He nodded, seating his friend down.

You scrambled to take off his shoe and his sock. You took out one of the ice packs and supported his foot. Quickly compressing the ice, the male groaned and winced.

You looked up at the male. "Sir, you'll be fine. After this I will wrap your ankle and continue to compress. May I ask what your name is?"

He stared at you, in a daze. He looked like a puppy, almost rivalling your own puppy back at your apartment.

"Sir?"

"Umm... Kotobuki Reiji."

"Ok. Now listen here Kotobuki-san, I'm going to begin wrapping..."

You continued to talk; however Reiji did not listen. He was too busy staring at you and your beauty to pay attention.

When you looked at him... your e/c eyes caught him off guard. There was so much emotion in them... concern, worry, calmness... It was enchanting.

No wait, it didn't even start from there. When he was in pain, the sight of you running towards him made his heart race. To see someone as gorgeous as you race to him... it was like a movie when the princess leaps into the arms of her lover.

"KOTOBUKI-SAN!"

"AH YES PRINCESS!" Reiji yelled.

"Huh?"

Reiji turned redder than Otoya's hair. "U-Uh continue please Miss Paramedic."

"As I was saying, I don't think you can dance tonight. You can still sing though. I'm sorry Kotobuki-san." You apologised sincerely. You felt bad for him, as he was an idol after all.

"Don't be sorry to me Miss Prin- I mean, Paramedic," Reiji replied. "On another note, what's your name? I feel awkward calling you Miss Princ- Paramedic."

"LN YN," You said. "I must leave now. Your bandmates must want to talk to you, and I need to let you rest. Get well soon."

"Thank you," Reiji said as you walked back to your senior. "Miss Princess..." He whispered.

Ranmaru Kurosaki

[This starts when you were children]

"YN-chan!"

Your best friend Ranmaru called to you. You waddled your way to him in your polka dot f/c bathing suit. Ranmaru was rich kid that moved into the fancy villa for the holiday. When your father was delivering fish to the villa, you followed him and met Ranmaru. You two became quick friends.

Today you two were playing on the seaside.

"YN-chan..."

"Yea Mawu-chan?" You say, as you gather water with your pail.

"My mommy says that we're going to leave soon. I have to go back to school as well," He says, pouting as he grips his swim trunks.

"You can visit next howiday right Mawu-chan?" You said, hopeful.

"But... I WANT YN-CHAN WITH ME!" He cried. He grabbed your hand and brought you to his mother.

"What is it Ranmaru dear?" She said, looking at the adorable couple. Secretly, YN's mother and her ship you two.

"Mama! I don't wanna leave!" Ranmaru cries.

"Eh? Ranmaru, we already talkedー"

"NO!! NOT WITHOUT YN-CHAN!" He held onto you tighter, as to prove his point.

His mother didn't know what to do. Ranmaru continued to throw a tantrum.

"I DON'T WANNA! I WANNA GO WITH YN-CHAN! I DON'T, I DON'T!"

"Ranmaru! YN has to stay here. She has her whole family here. We can't take her with us..." His mother comforted him.

"It's okay!" You cried out. "Becawse Mawu-chan is gonna visit me evewy howiday!"

As the day ended, both of your fathers had force you two apart (or more like Ranmaru from you) and you said farewell.

On the day of Ranmaru's departure, you two were on the sand on the beach you two met.

Ranmaru was already crying to you, telling you about stupid adults that cannot bring you.

"Mawu-chan!"

"Huh?"

You gave him a shell bracelet. "Mawu-chan... I know that you're sad. I'm sad twoo. But my granny says that if I give you this shell bracelet then you'll never forget me. I made it with granny. See, I have one too!"

You showed him the bracelet and they were indeed matching. "Like Mawu, I'm gonna follow you somedway! Because Mawu's name means follow right? Meaning I have to follow you one dway!"

Ranmaru held the bracelet in his hand. "Y-YN-CHANNN!!"

The two of you cried together.

"I'll mwiss you," you yelled, as you waved at the limo and a wailing Ranmaru at the window.

Fast forward to today's time period, you were a popular athlete, a surfer to be exact. You were at one of the beaches for your nationals competition. Today was your relaxing day, but that definitely won't stop you from surfing.

Unbeknownst to you, Quartet Night was having a photoshoot on the exact same beach you were at. Ranmaru Kurosaki, your childhood friend, was complaining to their manager.

"C'mon! I'm already done! Why should I wait for Ai? He's not even facing the waves!"

"Fine Kurosaki-kun. You can go ahead and surf. I'll be watching."

"Woo-hoo!"

"How impudent," Camus remarked.

Coincidentally, you were also about to catch the waves. Ranmaru rode the wave first, and you caught up to him.

This guy is really good, you thought. As a challenge for yourself, you tried to catch up to him. You decided to try the risky route and overtake him from above. You glimpsed back and the male was shocked at what skill you had. You smirked at him and went ahead. You noticed the male try to catch up to you but failed however, until the wave was nearing an end.

You decided to surf and jump it from the top. The male followed suit, and the wipeout occurred.

"You're not too bad," you commented to the male, who just resurfaced. You were about to sit on your board and heave yourself until the male gasped.

He was staring at your bracelet. The one you gave Mawu a long time ago.

"Oh this? It’s a bracelet I gave a friend a... long... time..."

You stopped when the male across from you lifted up a necklace that had the same shells in the identical order to yours. That's when it hit you.

"MAWU?!"

"YN?!"

Ranmaru swam to you and lifted you up. "YN-chan! I can't believe it's you!" He puts you on your board. "This is so surreal..."

"I know. What are you up to here? Don't tell me you're a part of the surfing contest," You said.

"No, I'm here for a photoshoot," he said truthfully.

"You're with Quartet Night?" You said, shocked. "You didn't look like Mawu at all, y'know, because of the eyes."

"It's an aesthetic. But you? Are you a part of that contest?" You nodded. 

"Professional surfer... Wow."

"Wow yourself Mr. Idol," You laughed.

"H-Hey! Don't tease me like that! Also don't call me Mawu! It's Ranmaru!"

"Then call me YN, Ranmaru. I missed you y'know?"

"Me too YN." He said smiling.

"LN!" Your manager screamed.

"KUROSAKI!" His manager screamed.

"That's my manager..." You two said in unison to each other.

"See you around, Ranmaru," you said, swimming to shore.

"You too, YN."

Chapter 2  →

[imagine--drv3]

Can I have S/O teaching the girls how to dance? What kind of dancing would the teach them? (PS: Love you guys!)

Well…as soon as we got this the other mods screamed at me to take it, and if that doesn’t sum up my love for dance, I don’t know what does.

Maki Harukawa

You don’t know what to teach her at all.

She’s athletic, and her body is gorgeous, but you don’t know if she has the patience or willingness to listen to you instruct her how to move.

For the joke of it all, you decide to ask her to listen to you teach her flamenco, knowing that she would likely disagree .

Though, when you prompt her with the idea, she stares at you and to your utter disbelief, tells you that she is willing to do so .

You flush at the idea of her moving in such a hip, fluid way and agree, setting up a time to meet with her.

She picks up the arm and wrist movements quickly, and doesn’t seem to put much effort into it at first.

Once you get to the hip movements, she blushes and immediately excuses herself for a moment.

She eventually gets the hang of it, though she doesn’t seem that into it from what you’ve seen.

But when you turn your back on her, and discreetly watch her, you see that she’ll perform it full out, getting extremely into the movements when you are not watching.

You feel yourself heat up at this, and laugh before turning around, getting a kick out of her shocked expression and her denial that she was not just dancing.

You spend the rest of the day catching her in these little moments, before her finally opening up and doing the routine to the best of her ability.

Kirumi Toujou

Surely you would believe that such an elegant and mature woman would be suited with a style that would fit those tastes.

So, you decide on ballet as a good way to start, envisioning how beautiful she would be dancing in such a timeless, elevated form of movement.

Besides, you can just imagine those long legs extending into a développé and you guiding her foot into a dégagé.

Alright, so maybe you are just a tad bit envious of her figure, and just a little attracted to the beauty she possesses.

And so, you invite her to a studio, and set her up with a gloved hand resting daintily against the barre.

You go off in a small rant about the art, in which she listens to politely with a couple nods of her head, and a smile.

Though on the inside, she is likely freaking out, if only a tad.

Frappé, fouetté, coupé, cambré, cabriole, battement, adagio, assemblé, attitude?? Pas de chat?? Passé? Penché? What does all this terminology you’re saying mean?

You reassure her gently that you’ll go slow, and teach her how to do everything correctly.

Then, you need to warn her that it takes /forever/ to be able to master the /simplest/ of movements, which she assures you is alright if it makes you happy.

She flushes pink every time you have to grab her hips to center them, or run your hand along her spine to help her straighten her posture and tuck everything correctly.

She’s a smart and quick learner, and she seems to enjoy the entire experience, despite it being mostly barre and slow waltzes and such.

She asks you to teach her again sometime, which you are happy to agree to!

Angie Yonaga

You have a bit of difficulty deciding on what to teach her.

She could never stay still enough for tap or ballet with her boundless energy and happy, overbearing attitude.

It takes you a bit, but you decide that such a creative soul needs a canvas that can be twisted into any style she pleases, so you decide on a contemporary/modern mix.

Until it hits you

Contact improv

She’s fascinated by humanity has been gifted with such a fine body that can be used as a vessel for blessing and pure hope.

So why not let her appreciate it through movement with another person, and let her express God’s love and emotions with another person?

Plus, it’s an opportunity for you to directly dance with your cute girlfriend

You ask her to come dance with you and she is simply overjoyed, and won’t leave your side until you’ve gone outside to move in the warm, bright sun.

You warm her up, helping her stretch her limbs to the sky, before taking her hands in yours, beginning to explain exactly what you brought her out here for.

Her expression only lights up in delight before she wraps you in a bear hug, asking if that it sufficient enough for contact improv.

You chuckle and say yes as you pat her head, before swooping the lighter girl into a bridal carry and placing her softly on the ground.

The two of you continue to interact with one another and simply just dance with the other, using the other’s limbs to inspire movement in your own.

She has a fantastic time, and tells you that you should help her express her God’s will through pure, blissful movement again sometime.

Kaede Akamatsu

You decide that ballroom would be the best for her

As a bonus, you could try to teach a routine that goes along to one of her own songs!

When you tell her this, she blushes, and asks if she has to dress up in fancy garb, in which you laugh and insist that she doesn’t.

You ask her to meet up with you one evening, and takes her hands, beginning to walk her through the steps.

You think she has the basics of it, yet you find it amusing as her blush deepens whenever you take her by the waist.

When you turn on her music and start choreographing to it, her face is an unexplainable mixture of shock, excitement and joy, and she seems to have newfound energy in her movements.

You switch roles occasionally, and at one point, she tries to lead you in the waltz.

Her movements are clumsy, and when she dips you, she drops you on the floor.

She apologizes endlessly after that, nearly crying, and you laugh and constantly tell her that it’s alright.

You two have a good time, and the evening ends with her kissing you and giving you a crushing hug.

Miu Iruma

When you propose the idea, she snorts, saying that she could build a machine to teach herself choreography.

But as soon as she sees the look on your face after that, she begins to yet up and apologizes, and agrees to letting you teach her whatever you want

You begin to walk her through a warm-up, deciding to go through with some classic jazz, before she stops with with a delighted look on her face.

She asks you to teach her how to pole dance.

You’re caught off guard by her request, a blush already covering your face at the mere thought of it.

But she seems too happy, and she already promises that she has something set up for it.

You reluctantly agree, and she meets up with you, pole in place, and urges you to begin.

You walk her through a few legitimate movements, mustering enough abdominal strength to show her one flashy move.

She copies them, which makes you melt in a puddle of embarrassment, before she cracks you a cheeky grin and begins to take over herself.

She cackles as she places a hand on the pole and spins around, taking amusement in your embarrassment.

It is an eventful night, to say the least.

Himiko Yumeno

You find that tap dance may fit someone like her, for it can be quite extravagant, yet simple, at the same time.

You dig out an old, smaller pair of tap shoes and dust them off before inviting her to come with you.

You help her tie them before walking her through a couple steps, taking the basic, slow approach.

Brush steps, shuffles, buffalos, paradiddle.

They may sound simple, but she’s quite proud of herself for being able to catch on, even if her movements lack a bit of energy.

She likes making noise, and begins to wear the tap shoes you gifted her around the house.

She also tells you that she’s happy that you taught her, and that she’ll have to try these techniques in her next show

Tsumugi Shirogane

She’s super willing to do whatever you teach her!

She does have a request though.

She consults you with a tablet and shows you a bunch of videos of anime characters dancing, and completely begs you to teach her the movements that her idols perform.

You’re not sure on how to exactly do so, but who can say no to those puppy dog eyes?

You ask her to consult you later, and you try your best to learn the movements for her.

You meet up after a little while and she seems super stoked! You’re going to help her become like her idols!

She’s quite energetic, for she’s dedicated to learning, and surprisingly picks it up rather quickly.

She seems extremely happy when moving and dancing, and is always ready to show you that she can do it by herself with pride in her voice.

She also tries dancing with cosplay! It’s quite cute.

Just like the animes

Tenko Chabashira

She’s active, lively, and a good learner. The perfect candidate for teaching!

When you propose the idea of teaching her something, she flushes red, and bows to you, saying that she is honored that you would trust her with your teachings.

She grew up learning defensive movement from a master, and has shaped her whole entire life around being taught by those she held in high lights.

So the fact that you want to teach her something you love inspires joy in her, and excites her greatly.

You decide that capoeira would be right for her, for she would be familiar with some of the movements all ready.

After all, it is a mix between dance, martial arts and acrobatics, and is lively and fun!

Besides, she already has the strength required for it!

She invites you to her dojo, for it is safer, and waits, practically trembling with excitement.

You show her the first few steps of the routine, which she copies near-effortlessly, her mind already trained to picking up and repeating movement

You teach her a few movements, in which she takes in and adds little things to make them their own, and’ll proudly show you them each time you pause, eager for your approval.

The night ends with her thanking you endlessly for sharing something you love with her!

[dwarven-beard-spores]

Chicago Hamilton Notes 06/06/16

So I saw Hamilton in Chicago last night, and HOLY SHIT IT WAS GOOD. So my observations and thoughts are below the cut. (There are a LOT)

Disclaimer that these are all subjective, and what i chose to include/exclude is based on what specifically caught my attention/memory and is informed by things I have previously read/seen. 

Feel free to send me an ask if you have any questions! I would LOVE to talk about it :D

ACT 1

The performance was GREAT, everybody was fantastic, and the emotions in this show were so raw, more so than on the cast album. It was intense. 

The set is beautiful, and even without context I would love to just run around on it. Every time it did something new I gasped. Very roughly, it’s a center with a turntable, and a balcony all around the sides and back. We talked about how it felt very Shakespearean. 

The lighting is holy shit, there are so many layers to that and variations and wow I was impressed. I was in the balcony so I could see the lighting patterns really well. 

Same with the choreography, like you could go to a dance recital with just the ensemble cast and be not disappointed at all. It’s so intricate, oh gods. 

The sheer amount of PAPER in the musical is astounding. People are constantly writing letters and documents and flyers and pamphlets, and they are getting passed here and there and thrown and stored places, and idk how anyone keeps track of them all. 

Aaron Burr Sir and My Shot were so great. One thing I didn’t know is that the Rev Set were pretty well established in the bar, they weren’t coming in when they did their initial introductions, they were chilling at a table, and like beatboxing for each other, and having a great time (until Burr spoils it)

Then My Shot happens, and it’s all going well, they form like four points of a circle and it looks really visually cool, until Ham goes “tell me where the ammunition is” and the spotlight just zooms in on him, so the lights and everyone around is just like “OH SHIT.” and it’s really awkward, until Laurens is like “yeah let’s roll with it.” 

They take “sing it to the rooftops” out into the street, and Laurens has a GREAT time rousing the people, getting them to stand on the balconies and hang off the sets, and it’s super exciting. 

Then everybody FREEZES on the turntable in the middle except for Ham, he’s in a front corner in a spot doing his “I imagine death” bit, so it looks very much like an internal monolog/anxiety, rather than something he’s confessing to his bros

And it stays like that until he goes “this is not a moment it’s the movement” and the moment that was frozen in time starts moving, and I cry at puns and layers of meaning

They get wasted in Story of Tonight, and Burr lurks in a corner, until stepping forward into this blazing diagonal of light to start Schuyler Sisters (all chill like, y’know) 

It seems to be the next morning, because the Rev Set is out on the street handing out pamphlets. Laurens gives one to Angelica, and she reads it while Eiza and Peggy argue, and it starts her off on talking about revolution. 

At the beginning, Peggy’s “and Peggy” is SO bratty, you wouldn’t believe, but at the end she is having SUCH a ball. 

Seabury gets up, he’s standing on a box to give his speech, dressed in like scholar robes or smth. Ham is ready to Fight, and Mulligan and Laffayette totally want him to, but Burr holds him back. 

So Laurens comes in, chats with an ensemble member and reads the scene, and then goes and grabs Burr and takes him back to distract him with a book or smth, and while he’s gone Ham goes in for the kill. 

At first he stands next to Seabury, but Seabury moves his box to upstage Ham. It doesn’t work, and eventually Ham is on the box with him, right up in his face. 

Burr notices eventually and is like “What? Oh fml.”

Up until this point everybody’s been all over that stage, there’s been so much bustle and movement. Then two redcoats sweep everybody off with their Message From the King and King George is on stage alone. And he’s TOTALLY STILL. Except for a few contained gestures, and a walk forward, he doesn’t fucking move. (Yet)

But he’s HILARIOUS, in his voice and the mannerisms he does do, everyone was laughing. 

On “everybody” a bunch of nervous ensemble people come to join him in singing, and they are also very still. 

32000 troops was accompanied by lighting that looked like water. 

Gwash is just freakin’ INTENSE man. He is so angry and so determined. He’s got an army of like 6 ensemble members to be his meager forces at the beginning. (But it’s all better once Ham’s three friends come in lol)

And Burr? Burr is so freaking Done With Ham’s Shit. He’s really angry at the beginning of Winter’s Ball. But he pulls it together to flirt. 

It may have been my imagination, but it sure seemed like Laurens was watching the people around him for Flirting Tips bc his gay ass doesn’t know how to be reliable with the ladies. 

For Helpless, these square lanterns descend from the ceiling, and they’re gorgeous and I gasped. There are also tables of candles in the back. 

Eliza is truly fantastic, she’s running around the room. And they made use of the turntable during the scene in the living room, which was really cool. 

There was so much pain in Angelica’s voice during “if you really loved me you would share him.” :’(

Eliza is pretty concerned about Angelica nomming Ham, but he reassures her. 

She gets a veil for the wedding, and they do the procession. Mulligan is the flower girl as per usual, he threw like 3 petals and looked so done with it XD

Then they smooched center stage, for quite a long time, until Laurens interrupted to bring us into Satisfied. 

Angelica sounded so ANGRY during her opening toast. Like “may you always be satisfied” was like “you’d fucking BETTER be satisfied” O.o

They rewound the action, to the kiss, and then in chunks, like, notable tableaus. Went all the way back to “we’re reliable with the ladies” so they were doing that choreography for the “I remember that night” bit. It was further than I expected but worked really well. 

There was this weird bit when she was introducing Ham and Eliza. So Ham and Eliza froze when Angelica did "number one" and "number two," and for at least one of those freezes there were a bunch of ensemble members who were like, posing Hamilton? Like moving his head and his joints while he was frozen? And I'm not entirely sure what it means but it was cool

In The Story Of Tonight Reprise, Laurens was just as draped on Burr as I’d hoped he would be. 

And when Lafayette said “you are the worst, Burr,” it was RIGHT in front of him, DIRECTLY to his face. It was great. 

Ham’s “oh shit” wasn’t just a tiny noise, it was like “oh SHIT.” 

Wait for It was another really really still number. Burr and some ensemble members. It was really really powerful. But when Burr was like “I’m not standing still” it was like “yes you definitely are though.” 

Stay Alive started with a single redcoat shooting at Hamilton and an ensemble member coming in to hold the bullet and show it’s path. 

Idk the battle scenes were so intense, I was right there in the action but I can’t pick out that many things that actually happened. 

Eaker was totally out there, out of control. A very frenzied “Wheeee!” 

The Ten Duel Commandments was mostly done with Laurens and Lee on opposite points of the spinning turntable. Ham and Burr would meet in the middle. 

During the “moment of adrenaline” there was a line of ensemble members between Laurens and Lee, all doing this fluttering motion over their heart that looked really striking. 

They cross the circle at the same time to switch positions, then turn and fire from there. 

Gwash is PISSED. 

He takes Ham to the downstage right. They have most of their argument standing side by side and facing out into the audience. They switch places I think, but don’t really face each other until “CALL ME SON ONE MORE TIME.” 

For That Would Be Enough, the set is mostly this once curved stone bench. 

Eliza is Preggers, and at the beginning she wants Ham to touch her stomach and feel the baby, but he doesn’t until the end, when he reaches for her very tentatively. 

This Eliza’s voice had the most round-sounding “around” ever, I love her voice so much. 

Lafayette was smoking at guns and ships, and the choreography was really fast too. 

He and Gwash talk about Hamilton by Washington’s desk. Washington writes a letter, which Lafayette then passes to an ensemble member, who passes it to another, and they go up around the balcony passing it until it finally gets to Hamilton. This is when Gwash is singing his slow bit, i believe. 

History has its eyes on you was one of a few numbers where there were ensemble members all around the balconies and edges of the scene, just kinda chilling and watching. 

Yorktown was also super intense. Mulligan killed it. 

“We gotta go, gotta get the job done” was with the whole army lined up right near the front of the stage. 

When the world is turned upside down, people come out with upside down chairs and furniture, and they make pedestals for the main players to stand on all dramatically at the end. 

King George comes back, and he is slightly more animated this time as he loses his grip on sanity! He’s also in a front corner as opposed to center stage. Still so many laughs. “I’m so blue” is when he stamps his foot and the lighting goes blue. It’s great. 

The staging for Dear Theodosia is really simple. It’s Burr at the very front of the stage, in a soft spotlight, holding the back of a chair which is facing towards the audience. He stands there and sings, and then sits down. Ham comes out with another chair and does the same thing. 

For the most part, I was fully in the moment while watching the musical. But I couldn’t help but think at this point of the comic where Hamilton goes “LOOK AT MY SON” and hurls a baby in Burr’s face. Oops. 

They are interrupted by Eliza (which is kinda cool, considering she’s the one who’s been really invested in kids) with a letter. This is the Laurens Interlude and it is very sad. She reads Hamilton the letter while Laurens stands next to him in a bluer spot and goes through The Story Of Tonight. 

At the end Eliza asks “are you alright?” and Ham answers by saying “I’ve got so much work to do.” 

By this time he’s in his green silk suit (I believe he changes right before Dear Theo). 

The Levi Weeks trial is on the turntable, so even when the players are stationary they’re still moving. Ham does sit down when Burr tells him to, but gets up like two seconds after. 

Angelica and Ham walk diagonally across the stage while she tells him that she’s going to London. He is a bit put out to find out she’s going with a husband, but does agree that no one can match him, and seems pleased with Angelica’s saying it.

Then the turntable takes her away, and brings Eliza forward at the same time. 

Everyone clears out for Ham and Burr’s midnight conversation. Burr’s “no” was like “noooooo” and I laughed. 

They pull out a chunk of the balcony!!! And it’s a set of stairs with a platform at the top, and they roll it to the center of the stage, so there’s stairs going up from the center onto the balcony! I gasped then too. 

Annnnd, INTERMISSION.

ACT 2

It opens with Burr on the top of the stairs (I think. Or else he climbs there promptly while giving his introduction.) He’s at the top when he calls out “Thomas? THOMAS!” and TJeffs comes out from the top of the stairs as well. 

His stage presence is so great, he is having a BALL. When he gives the audience a kiss it’s with his face out, he’s not blowing one. He just leans into it like “mwah!” 

And he gets wheeled around on the staircase, which goes back into the balcony afterwards. 

Madison shows up and is like “shit’s going down!” and Jefferson’s like “sure, but I’m the shit.” 

And when Gwash and Hamilton show up, Hamilton zooms forward and cuts Gwash off to shake Jefferson’s hand first and introduce himself. 

Then they cabinet battle! Someone comes with a case that has microphones in it, and the stage gets set up so there’s an upside down V with Gwash at the point and Tjeffs and Ham on this inside. 

Jefferson finishes his things and then drops the microphone like it’s hot. Madison makes a show of picking it up with his hankercheif. 

Ham’s body language while mocking Tjeffs is fantastic. He doesn’t do the same little hop Lin did during “Montechello,” but he did some disparaging wiggle that was really funny. 

Gwash has to physically separate the two and tell Ham to chill out. 

Take a break! Phillip is adorable, and it’s very clear that Eliza’s teaching him to play, and they’re really cute. 

Eliza has to physically take the pen out of Ham’s hand before he’ll come to dinner. 

Phillip is so nervous! And Eliza’s beatboxing for him, and gesturing to him like “you got this, come on,” and then he hits his stride and it’s so exciting. 

Hamilton’s teeny “hi” remains one of the best things ever. And Angelica is barely there three seconds before getting dragged into their problems. 

Say No To This has streetlights set up, and the outer ring of the turntable is going while Maria walks along it. She’s in Seductive Red (tm) and is circling the stationary desk where Ham is being angsty and tired. 

The ensemble members going “No! NO!” are SO DONE WITH HAM’S SHIT. On every “no” they change poses, and every pose is one of despair/exasperation/just general Done-ness. 

James Renolyds is a dirtbag, and calls Maria away with a slap to his leg. She and Ham share a longing glance before she goes. 

The Room Where It Happens was amazing. When Burr is setting the scene, Ham, Tjeffs, and Madison are standing in a line, facing away from the audience. They set up a table with Tjeffs and Madison seated and still facing away. Ham pours everyone drinks. That’s what the meal itself looks like. 

During “Thomas says” narration, Hamilton sure does simper for his help. It’s cool bc it’s maybe subjective based on the narrator, whoo!

Based on that post connecting Say No and The Room that had to deal with Ham borrowing strategy from Maria rather than Burr, it was interesting to have her red dress compared to Tjeff’s maroon suit… the warm colors contrasting against Ham’s green were a little similar. 

Burr gets on the table to emphasize his point, and at one point he jumps and someone pulls the tablecloth out from under him. The table is mirrored! I haven’t explicated the meaning behind that either, but it was really cool and unexpected. 

Everyone’s favorite, Schuyler defeated, was pretty chill. Eliza and Phillip were up on the balcony, Ham and Burr were center stage. Ham was pissed. 

They set up the second cabinet battle the same way as the first, and it follows the same format. Gwash dramatically flips his coattails every time he sits down. (He’s in black, btw)

Ham does a very nice imitation of King Louis’s head. 

Washington On Your Side was amazing. It started with just Tjeffs on stage complaining, and then Burr shows up and is like “I wanna complain about Hamilton too.” Madison doesn’t come on until it’s to remind everyone that he wrote the bill of rights. 

They’re so sinister. And the way the number builds in intensity is just right. 

During the song Tjeffs writes a letter, which makes it to Gwash’s desk for the beginning of One Last Time. When Hamilton comes in he is given the letter and reads it, and isn’t really paying that much attention to Washington until he announces he’s resigning. 

They’re BOTH in black now, btw. 

For the speech it works like this: Hamilton goes front and center and starts writing/reciting the speech. Gwash is in the back, right next to him but a stage behind. Then Ham starts walking backwards as George walks forward, until they’re next to each other in the middle. They pause, then George walks the rest of the way forward and Ham walks the rest of the way backward. As they do this, their voices match how far forward on stage they are, until George is carrying it by himself. 

At this point, people are watching: Ham and Eliza and Phillip are there, clinging on to each other, Madison and Jefferson are there, groups of ensemble members. 

George Washington’s stately walk away is matched by King George back. he’s completely lost it, and his gestures are so much wilder. 

“looms quite as large” reeeeaaaaallly sounded like a dick joke when he said it. 

Also his estimation of Adam’s height was like four feet tall maybe, and he lowered it upon further consideration. 

Then he decided to stay and hang out! He pulled up a chair on the side of the stage and sat there to watch shit go down!

Hamilton’s retaliation to John Adams was a giant bundle of papers, which he dropped from the center of the balcony. When it landed the lights and sound followed like an explosion. 

He goes to work at his desk, and is visited by Jefferson, Madison, and Burr, all in a line. They wave receipts in his face, and he grabs the letter from James Reynolds out of a drawer off to the side. Madison reads it while Jefferson hangs out near Hamilton to bother him, until “that was my wife who you decided to-“ when he dashes over there to read the letter for his own eyes. 

Desperation is rolling off Hamilton like waves in this scene. He is just barely hanging on as it is, and he does not need this bullshit. 

Burr’s cryptic answers are still cryptic… but in this performance they also sounded threatening. 

Hurricane starts with hurricane lighting swirling all around Hamilton, he’s in the eye. 

For most of the time he’s not alone onstage. He’s got ensemble members acting out the storm, and the scenes he’s talking about, and generally adding to the chaos. 

There’s a brilliant moment, and I can’t remember the exact line right now, where the entire stage is lit neon green and purple. Like cartoon radioactivity. It’s only for a few seconds and never anywhere else in the musical. I got chills. 

The Reynolds Pamphlet is CHAOS. Papers are going everywhere. Phillip gets shown the grisly details. Hamilton just stands in the center. 

It clears away when Angelica arrives, then it’s her and Hamilton. 

Then it comes back, and papers get thrown in the air and everywhere. Jefferson placed a sheet on Hamilton’s shoulder, which stuck. King George got into the action, he was having a ball. 

HIS POOR WIFE. 

Burn was just absolutely wrenching. The set? Was so simple and painful. A coal bin. A lantern just like the ones that had come down during Helpless. The stone bench from That Would Be Enough. Even thinking about it I’m tearing up. Eliza read the letters there, looking for her sign. She burned them in the lantern and tossed them in the coal bin. Wow it hurt. 

Pain and resolve is what came off her in waves. Her VOICE. 

And then Phillip shows up, all scholarly and ready to have threesomes.

The play is actually there; there are two actors in a harsh white square of light (stage) acting out some scene when Phillip comes in to get Eaker. They stop what they’re doing and watch the confrontation! Who’s on stage? It’s in flux! Then they’re like “screw this” and leave. 

Phillip and Eaker are on opposite points of the turntable too. Phillip is center stage when he gets shot. He falls back in slow motion, and is caught by an ensemble member who lowers him onto a table. The table keeps spinning around slowly as Hamilton comes in to look for him. 

*cries forever*

Eliza screams “NO!” after he dies. It hurt. 

At one point, Hamilton reached for her hand, and she wouldn’t let him touch her. 

Uptown was lit in a purple stone pattern, at least for some of it. Eliza and Hamilton weren’t alone, there were passersby all over the place. 

Angelica says “she takes his hand” before Eliza actually does, which surprised me. It was almost like Eliza was listening to Angelica and then responding. 

Can we get back to politics? Please? 

Hamilton trying to mourn, in black, just sort of wandering through the enthusiastic crowd asking about his opinion was really striking. 

Okay so the best part of The Election of 1800 for me was this realization. Something about the way Burr and Hamilton played the scene made me think of it in a whole new way… When Burr says “I learned that from you” it’s the absolute WORST thing he could have said. Because Hamilton is still dealing with the fact that his advice is what killed Phillip. He is realizing that his entire worldview may be flawed. And NOW Burr wants to take his advice? That can only end in disaster. 

So his decision to support Jefferson is not just because of Burr’s politics (though they are pretty awful) but is also because he’s trying to save Burr from following his advice. (In the least tactful way possible). 

MY HEART. (I need to write fic about this). 

Also, Jefferson is just really disgusted with the way Burr’s like “I can’t wait to work with you!” Like, dang. Not only did you miss out on the presidency, but your “wait for it” strategy got you kicked out of being VP. No wonder Burr is pissed. 

Speaking of pissed, he is SO out for blood in Your Obedient Servant. 

The lights turn red and put him and four ensemble members in white diamonds of light that reminded me of playing cards. 

He sits down at a desk and writes out a letter, which is then delivered to Hamilton.

Hamilton then sits down and starts writing his massive response, and it get delivered page by page by a different ensemble member each time. 

When he’s writing his 30 years of disagreements, he just kind of scribbles across the page, and it made me laugh. 

At the end, they both sign letters at the same time, and they get delivered in the order A. Ham (to Burr) and A. Burr (to Ham). 

Best of Wives was short and sweet. Hamilton kissed Eliza’s arm. 

This was set up much like the rest of the duels, with people going everywhere but the focus being the turntable.

During Burr’s “confession time” two ensemble members came up behind him and did the heart fluttery motion that meant “adrenaline” in Ten Duel Commandments, and it was a cool callback and also meant something different so I really liked it. 

When Burr shot, someone came up to hold the bullet, just like in Stay Alive. The table stopped turning, but Hamilton moved a bit. 

Laurens/Phillip, Hamilton’s mom, and George Washington all showed up on the balcony, but when Eliza showed up, she went right between Burr and Hamilton, so it looked as though she might be getting shot, or Ham would shoot her if he decided to fire.

Hamilton crumples into this tiny black ball when he’s shot, and he starts turning with the turntable. Two ensemble members sit next to him and act out rowing him back across the hudson. 

He ends up climbing the stairs to get to the balcony where his dead loved ones were, while Burr ends up center stage. 

Then WLWDWTYS happens and it’s so sad. Eliza comes into the spotlight, and the strength of her greif is overwhelming, especially in, like, “he gives me what you always wanted, he gives me more time.”

She ends it crying.

END

[k-histoires-blog]

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This is a new account all about K-pop, K-dramas, anime and what not. We will post fanfictions written by us, drawings we made, and a lot more. Please keep in mind that none of us is a professional in any way in writing, drawing etc. We started this account purely for fun and to connect and interact with other people in the world who enjoy K-pop, K-dramas, etc. This account is a creative outlet for us and critique and criticism is always welcome. We will try our best to listen to your complaints or tips and change our account/content for the better.

Never be afraid to leave a comment or ask us a question because that is why we started this blog. However, all of the admins do have a personal life and school/university so we will not be able to reply or post content all the time. We hope you understand this and support us anyway.

Another important thing to be addressed is the matter of plagiarism. We will NOT accept any form of plagiarism for the work we post here was made by us and nobody else. It took us hard work and time to create all the stories and other things, so if anyone decides to use (some) of our work, we will take action. If anyone sees content of ours on another blog - or somewhere else on the internet - without our permission, please report this to us and we will take action. Thank you in advance.

That said, we would like to introduce ourselves individually.

Admin Bluebell:

Hey everyone,

I am the admin called Bluebell or also known as the thick thighs enthusiast (I am looking at you Jimin, Jungkook, Jooheon, Wonho, Shownu etc.). My real name is Fleur and like the other admins I am Dutch. I got into K-pop, I think, at the end of 2015. The first group to spark my interest was EXO and since then I was hooked. My bias in EXO went from Chen to Chanyeol to Baekhyun and D.O. If I could listen to D.O. sing every day for the rest of my life I would be a happy girl.

However, after seeing a certain clip of BTS I started stanning them and my life changed forever. (cheesy I know). At first my bias was Taehyung, then Jimin decided to creep in my life and screw up my feelings but since about 7 months I have found my ultimate bias. It is the one and only leader Kim Namjoon. I could rant for nine years about why I love him so much but no one has that much time. I like a lot of other artists as well, such as BTOB (after BTS they are my favourite group), EXO of course, Monsta X, GOT7, Day6, Shinee, Block B, VIXX, NCT, Big Bang, MAMAMOO, EXID, Red Velvet, Twice, f(x), Girls Generation, Dean, Zion. T, Heize, Hoody and the list goes on and on.

I’m not a big fan of K-dramas but I am a big fan of (K)-movies. So if you have any recommendations or just want to talk about a movie with me, you can message us!  I also love reading books and especially if they were written by Neil Gaiman. So if you can always message me when you want to geek out about a book or series.

In terms of what I will be posting on this account, you can mainly expect stories and drawings. I know I am still lacking a lot in both of these departments but I will try my best to create interesting and good content. I apologise if my stories won’t be so long because I do struggle with that, but this will not stop me from trying. Also my drawings aren’t the best ever  but I am confident enough to post them!

I think that was all there is to know about me so I am looking forward to running this blog with my fellow two admins and let’s have fun whilst doing so!

Admin Boa:

I'm the admin with the 'second lead syndrome' so if you want to rant about why the second lead deserves the girl/ how unfair life is you've come to the right place!

My real name is Frédérique but everyone calls me Freddie. I'm 18 years old (20.11.1998) and I currently live in the Netherlands. My nationality is Dutch but I was practically born and raised in England.

My favourite actors include (not in this order bc I literally can't choose a favourite): Choi Tae Joon, Do Ji Han, Seo Kang Joon, Kim Woo Bin, Lee Jong Suk and many many more!!! My favourite actrices are Park Shin Hye and Kim Go Eun.

I also write fanfiction, badly. But I'll upload my fics anyways. They're mostly boy×boy. I don't write for a specific group because there are a lot of groups that I stan and they all deserve love and attention. My favourite boy group always changes because of comebacks lmao, but I'm very loyal to my favourite girl group f(x). My ultimate bias is SEVENTEEN's Mingyu (he's literally the definition of adorkable).

The underground rap scene also has a lot of music I enjoy listening to (for as far as I know it). My favourite Korean program is SMTM. I recently got into Chinese films so if you would like to recommend any, please do so! I love reading good books so a recommendation is never a bad thing!

If you want to know more about me or like talking about any of the above (and more) please don't be shy and leave a message! The more people to talk with the better!

My personal 'K-pop experience'

I got to know K-pop in 2013 (if we don't count PSY's Gangnam Style) when I watched SHINee's Ring Ding Dong. I found it really funny and different from what I usually listened to since it was something I'd never seen before. I started liking it because it made me laugh. In the beginning for me it just looked really stupid (no offense, I love SHINee and I love Ring Ding Dong but I'd never seen something of the like). I really didn't take it serious. It was only when I saw more and different K-pop groups and their concepts that I started to take K-pop seriously as a hobby. When I watched SWING by Super Junior-M with a friend, that's when I began to see K-pop not only as comedic entertainment, but also as a great music genre with crazy good choreographies.

My first ultimate bias was Taehyung from BTS. I decided that when I saw him in I NEED U. He was gorgeous. Although he's still my BTS bias, my ultimate bias changed about a year later to Mingyu and it has stayed that way.

Groups that I stan off the top of my head are: SEVENTEEN, WINNER, NCT, B.A.P, SHINee, BTS, GOT7, KNK, BLOCK B, DAY6, f(x), Brave Girls, TWICE, FIESTAR, etc.

I also like a lot of soloists including: Crush, DEAN, Jay Park, C.Jamm, BeWhy, and many more!

I'm also taking a course of the Korean language. I'm very bad at learning new languages but I'm trying this anyways! (I'm not very advanced and I forget a lot so don't expect much of it lmao)

This is what I like in short. If you'd like to ask about more personal stuff (within certain boundaries) you're always welcome to do so!

I probably won't post often since I have 0 skills, but I'll be here to chat if you'd like!!

Admin Ana:

Hi everyone!

I'm Admin Ana, best described as a procrastinating perfectionist who tends to abuse the passive voice in her writings a lot. I'm 17 years old, born and raised in the Netherlands and an avid listener to Korean music since June 2016. My hobbies include makeup, music, reading, writing and travelling. I started taking writing seriously about five years ago, and it has been one of my hobbies ever since. Besides writing, I also like to draw. Even though I haven't drawn in a really long time, I'd still consider it one of my favourite things to do. If I pick up the pen and muster up the courage, I might share some of my drawings in the future as well.

Among the three of us, I was the last to start taking a liking to Korean music and Korean dramas and in all honesty, I was a little sceptical about the whole thing at first. Despite my doubts, I decided to give both a try and after watching the first few episodes of Kill Me, Heal Me, I fell in love with all that the Korean entertainment industry has to offer. Besides Kill Me, Heal Me, I've also watched and enjoyed dramas such as Goblin, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, W, Doctors, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo and Chicago Typewriter. Frankly, even after immersing myself in Korean dramas, it still took quite a while before I started appreciating Korean music. Yet, after being introduced to BTS by my fellow admins, I was won over. Soon DEAN and EXO caught my eye as well, and ever since then, I've been a lost cause. In one year’s time, I’ve got to know a lot of artists. Some of my favourites include BIGBANG, Monsta X, Block B, WINNER and GOT7. I'm also an AOMG enthusiast.

On this blog, I'll be mainly posting my drawings and writings. If I feel like promoting a soloist, group or series, I'll do so as well. If you have a question recommendation or request, feel free to message us! I'd love to chitchat a little. If you want to talk or ask us anything on a more serious note, don't hesitate to message us as well.