#there were so many wasted opportunities during nine and rose's run

[troublegoblin]

rose tyler remaining slightly inhuman after becoming bad wolf my beloved. you had so much potential

[blueboxesandtrafficcones]

The Party Problem

Day 9 of 2019′s 31 Days of Ficmas

Thanks to @doctorroseprompts for the prompt list!

Prompt: party

Rating: General

Pairing: 10xRose (pre-couple)

Summary: In hopes a relaxing night out, the Doctor attempts to take Rose to a Christmas party during the 4th Great and Bountiful Human Empire.  Needless to say, plans go awry.

2019 31 Days of Ficmas masterlist

---

“So, where are we going today?” Rose skipped into the console room to find the Doctor already fiddling with the coordinates.

From the other side of the console he looked up, face breaking into a wide smile at the sight of her.  “Hello!” he said in that delighted way he had, as if they’d been apart for months instead of minutes.  It never failed to make her heart leap, to know her mere presence brought him so much happiness.  “We… are going to a Christmas party,” he said smugly, throwing the lever and sending them into flight. “And not just a Christmas party, oh no- nothing so mundane for you.  No, we are going to the 20th annual official Christmas Gala, held by the Supreme Emperor of the 4th Great and Bountiful Human Empire!”

Rose’s shoulders slumped, and she stuck her lower lip out in an exaggerated pout.  “That sounds nice,” she said wistfully, moving towards him and crossing her arms.  “Sounds beautiful, really.”

“Then what’s wrong?”  His eyebrows drew together, and she had to hide a smile at his perplexed expression.

“Well, it’s just… you’ve promised me the 4th Great and Bountiful Human Empire over… and over… and have basically doomed us that wherever we land, there’ll be trouble.”

Eyes widening his jaw dropped, and for several seconds he spluttered indignantly.  “You- I- That’s not- How could you- It’s just- Rose!”

She burst into laughter, having to hold herself around the middle to keep upright.  “Oh, your face,” Rose gasped, howling.  “Oh, that’s priceless, that is!”

“Rose!  Stop laughing,” he whined, circling the console to get to her, crossing his arms and sulking.  “It’s not nice.  I have not doomed us.”

“But you have though!  Every time, Doctor, we find trouble.  Remember Satellite Five?”

He looked particularly put out, and she almost felt bad.  “That wasn’t my fault,” he muttered, “sometimes the TARDIS takes us where we need to go rather than where we want to go.”

“I know,” she said soothingly, swallowing back the remaining giggles.  “But you have to admit, she seems particularly against taking us there.”

“Well, this time we are going, because I have an invitation.”

“The psychic paper does not count as an invitation.”

“It’s not the psychic paper!  It is a real invitation, Dame Rose, one I received many years ago in my travels and never cashed in.  Would you care to join me?”

Rose hummed, adopting a quizzical expression and studying him.  The longer she waited the more earnest he appeared, his Time Lords are superior posture fading to please let me take you somewhere nice, and she caved – not that she would ever say no.  I’ll go anywhere with you, daft alien.  For as long as you’ll have me.  Don’t you know that by now?  Then again, it was somewhat sweet and innocent of him to feel the need to ask, to not just make assumptions about what she wanted.  “I would be absolutely delighted, Sir Doctor,” she affected a posh accent, giggling once again when he rolled his eyes.  “And what, precisely, is the dress code?”

He blinked.  “Uh… fancy?”

“Right, but… oh, never mind, I’m sure the TARDIS’ll make sure I choose something appropriate,” Rose shook her head, grinning wryly.  “I’ll go get ready.”

With a parting bright smile she turned, strolling towards the wardrobe room.

“You have ten minutes!” he called after her.

She started running.

-

Twenty-seven minutes later she returned to the console room, dressed to the absolute nines.  “I love this dress,” she announced, strutting in.  “I feel like a princess or something.”  She did a little twirl, pleased when the skirts flared out around her.  “What d’you think?”

And then she stopped dead, jaw dropping slightly as she caught sight of him.

“Blimey, you cleaned up.”

It shouldn’t have been that surprising; he’d worn a suit nearly every second since he’d regenerated, and going from that to a tux wasn’t much different, but… Whoa.

“Looks all right?” he asked nervously, turning from the mirror he had propped against the rotor, his own eyes going wide at seeing her.  “Wow.”

“You look… fine,” Rose swallowed, scanning him carefully.  The tux seemed to be even more snug than his usual suit, and he was far more than just fine.  “It’s- it’s good.”  His undone bowtie caught her eye, and she didn’t waste the opportunity.  “Here, let me.” Taking her time she tied it for him, before smoothing her hands along his shoulders and down the front of the jacket.  “Perfect.”  If her voice was a little breathier than normal he didn’t seem to notice, just stared down at her with those expressive brown eyes.  As much as he tried to hide his feelings, burying them deep beneath boundless energy and childlike enthusiasm, the truth was clear as day in his eyes, finishing sentences when his mouth was incapable of doing so.

“Thanks,” he murmured, taking a step back.  “You look wonderful.”

“Thank you.”  Rose blushed, dipping her head and holding out her skirts, twirling again.  “I hope there’s dancing.”  I hope you dance with me.

“I’m sure there will be.”

An awkward silence ensued, broken only the abrupt landing.

“Oh!” Rose yelped, bursting into laughter as she swayed.  “I guess we’re here.”

“Looks like it.”  The Doctor jogged over to the monitor, peering at it intently for a moment.  “Yep, this is it.”

They made their way to the door, which swung open for them of the ship’s accord; immediately, the sounds of a party floated inside to them, reassuring Rose.

“Milady?” he offered her his elbow, and with a tongue-touched grin, she took it.

“Why thank you, kind sir.”

And they entered the party.

-

It took two hours.

“Doctor, where the hell are you?” Rose hissed, running for her life down a portrait gallery, guards chasing her – she had a momentary advantage, being able to dart and weave through secret doors they didn’t know she was aware of.  Carrying her heels and running in stockinged feet helped, though the guards were slowly gaining.  “Shit. I knew this would happen, didn’t I say so?”

She careened around a corner while glancing over her shoulder, only to be forcefully jerked sideways.  Fighting back a scream, she blinked frantically to get her vision to adjust to the dark closet she was suddenly in.

“You okay?”

Rose sagged at the familiar voice, relaxing back against the door as she realized the body framing her was none other than the Doctor’s.  “Yes. Where have you been?”

“Me?  You’re the one who- who keeps wandering off!”

“Shh!”

They fell silent as the guards ran past their hiding spot, waiting an eternity until the Doctor shifted her out of the way, cracking open the door and listening intently.  “Coast is clear,” he whispered, “and I’ve got a way out. Trust me?”

“You’re an idiot,” she hissed back, letting that linger for a moment before adding, “if you think the answer to that is anything other than ‘yes’.  Now get us out of here!”

“That was mean,” he grumbled petulantly, opening the door fully and creeping towards the left.  “Come on.”

“That’s them!”  The shout came from the other direction, and they both looked to see a second contingent of guards pointing in their direction.

“Oh… come on!  Run!”

Shaking her head in exasperation, Rose bundled her skirts in the same hand as her shoes, took the Doctor’s hand, and did as he said.

Amazing how much more fun this is with his hand in mine.

-

They made it into the TARDIS with seconds to spare, and Rose could feel the guards grasping for her dress as they tumbled through the doors.  The moment they slammed shut Rose collapsed onto the ramp, panting as she dropped her shoes and hem while the Doctor made his way to the console and sent them into flight.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered from where he hunched over the controls, and the image was so similar to just before he regenerated that Rose had a visceral reaction, jumping up and hurrying over to him.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” she soothed, internally panicked by how downtrodden he appeared.  “I know you didn’t mean for that to happen- though I’m not quite clear on what did happen.  One second I’m laughing at the Crown Prince’s joke, the next guards were chasing me.”

The Doctor finally lifted his head, an ancient, dark look in his eye that did more to remind her of who he really was, what he was, than the time machine she lived on.  “I accidentally uncovered a coup in progress,” he admitted.  “The General was planning on murdering the Emperor and seizing the throne.  He wasn’t pleased when I blurted my realization out in front of the Emperor.”

Rose couldn’t help but snort.  “Sounds like you.”  She hadn’t been able to help wondering, while darting through the Imperial Palace, if he’d started trouble because the Crown Prince had been monopolizing her time.

“I just wanted to take you somewhere nice,” he lamented, turning to lean back against the console and raking his eyes over her.  “Let you get dressed up and let your hair down.  We’ve been running nonstop for weeks now.”

She shrugged her shoulders, stepping closer and patting his bicep.  “I don’t care.  I love it.  All of it.  Running from trouble, or to trouble, or just… having breakfast in the galley.  I appreciate the effort, but… any time with you is time well spent.”

His eyes met hers, and she fought to not blink, trying to keep herself still.  She was tired, and sore, and in desperate need of a shower, but she let him see the truth of her words, how she really felt, things speakable and unspeakable alike.

After a minute his mouth tightened and he nodded.

“Movie night, then?”

“After a shower,” she agreed, giving an over-exaggerated sniff before grinning.  “Twenty minutes?”

He nodded again, and she turned towards the corridor that led to her room.

“By the way…” she stopped in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder to find he hadn’t moved, “we can have a fancy dress party just the two of us without leaving the ship, you know.  Next time you want to see me kitted out like this. Just so you know.”

And she disappeared down the hall, humming to herself as she went.

[crvelsovls]

—

delphine laurent has been seen walking around town. hazelgrove is familiar of the twenty-nine year old demon as she is against restoring the town’s glamour spell. the people of hazelgrove can agree that the dancer can be poised yet still be destructive. let’s just hope something can be settled before the town is turned upside town. + rose gold highlighter shimmering along the height of prominent cheekbones, black satin dresses draped over a svelte frame and blood-red roses in a vase on the window sill.

why, hellooo there !! i’m chrissie and i’m super duper excited to be here !! this here is the first of my gals ; delphine aka my sassy lil demon child fkhfjh she’s kinda a newish muse so pls bear with me while i navigate this chaotic hellcat lmao anywaysss i’m utter plot trash so feel free to slap a lil heart on this and i’ll come pester you for plots n all that good stuff !! : )

FUNDAMENTALS.

full name. delphine athena laurent.

nicknames. del, & della.

physical age. twenty-nine.

actual age. three hundred and fifty seven.

birthday. unknown.

gender. cisgender female.

pronouns. she / her.

species. demon.

nationality. unknown.

religion. agnostic.

birthplace. unknown.

current residence. hazelgrove, me.

sexual orientation. pansexual.

romantic orientation. aromantic.

education. psychology degree.

occupation. dancer at purgatory.

CONNECTIONS.

birth mother. unknown.

birth father. abraxas.

full blood siblings. unknown.

significant other. n/a.

children. n/a.

pets. n/a.

PROFICIENCIES.

spoken languages. english, spanish, french, italian, german, & russian.

negative traits. brusque, obstinate, destructive, deceptive, & promiscuous.

positive traits. elegant, headstrong, observant, independent, & confident.

strengths. etiquette, resourcefulness, knowledgeable, quick-thinker, original, brainstorming, charismatic, & energetic.

weaknesses. argumentative, insensitive, intolerant, finds it difficult to focus, & dislikes practical matters.

skills. skilled with blades and various knives, skilled with firearms, hand-to-hand combat, memory recall, physical stamina, able to use initiative, & excellent problem-solving abilities.

talents. violin, dancing, & photographic memory.

APPEARANCE.

eye colour. green.

hair colour. dark brown.

height. five feet, five inches.

weight. 61 kg.

build. she is considered average height for a female and is both slender and toned.

scars. a rather noticeable one across her clavicle and a few others in less visible places.

tattoos. n/a.

piercings. earlobes.

glasses. n/a.

MISCELLANEOUS.

zodiac. unknown.

element. fire.

house. slytherin.

myers briggs type. entp-a.

alignment. chaotic neutral.

enneagram. type eight.

temperament. choleric

intelligence type. intra-personal.

character label. the vixen.

diseases. n/a.

past mental disorders. post-traumatic stress disorder, & acute stress disorder.

current mental disorders. undiagnosed.

addictions. tobacco, cocaine, & alcohol.

vices. lust, greed, & wrath.

virtues. temperance, diligence, & humility.

allergies. n/a.

diet. carnivore.

dominant hand. ambidextrous.

accent. american.

blood type. o negative.

felonies. petty theft charge when she was fifteen. she also has a history of both kleptomania, & pyromania when she was a teenager.

vehicle. red 1966 shelby 427 cobra.

BACKGROUND.

trigger warning(s). mention of death, mention of imprisonment, & mention of murder.

although the region of her birth remains a mystery to delphine, she knows for certain that her parentage is a complex story. the by-product of a human mother and a demonic father, delphine entered this world destined for a life of chaos and disarray. though she never knew her mother, her father had been thrilled by the sheer idea of having a child he could mould and shape into the pitch-black soul he desired her to be, minus the influence of a mortal. indeed, the demon abraxas had big plans for his little girl, plans she grew to work against despite her father’s best efforts to rein her in.

the instant little delphine began to display her powers, make use of her abilities and disobey daddy dearest, the girl was locked in her room. a room that contained every possible thing that a child could want. for the first few years of her life, delphine was homeschooled by a demon under her father's command. while her father made sure she had wanted for nothing, the older she grew the deeper she desired to explore the world  and her capabilities. one fateful night, the girl managed to escape her father's abode; used her enhanced speed and endurance to run far into the dark night. of course, it wasn't long until her father's demonic henchmen were on her tail, dragging her back to her prison. delphine knew her father gave her the best life possible but she also knew that there were ulterior motives behind his kindness.

eventually, delphine proved to defy her father to breaking point resulting in him having her shipped off to an all-girls boarding school. during her schooling years there, her father sparsely visited or, instead, often sent one of his subservient demons to check in with his daughter in his place. then, after a long period of time, the visitations ceased; the last thing delphine heard was that her father had wound up entangled with a couple of hunters.

delphine deemed this both a blessing and a curse. a curse as all she'd known was her father's rule. a blessing as she was finally free to lead her own life; make her own choices and follow her own path. she wasted no time in graduating from the academy before deciding to move to new york city where she found herself enrolled in new york university, undertaking a psychology degree.

still, with no word from her father or his servants, a small element of delphine continued to look over her shoulder in fear that they would creep back into her life. perhaps her father’s involvement with the hunters had ended in disaster. or perhaps he’d simply given up on his daughter fulfilling the prophecy he placed upon her. though the latter seemed unlikely to her, delphine wasn’t entirely sure if she truly cared enough to give any of it a second thought.  

after her graduation, she was cornered by a demon who claimed to work for her father. it soon became apparent that her father had vanished, seemingly having fell off the face of the earth altogether, and that this demon had stepped in to fill his shoes. naturally, the demon was trying to recruit delphine into the fold once more but refusing to take no for an answer had deadly consequences for this other demon.  

having killed the new ruler of her father’s faction, delphine made her way across various states until she would up in hazelgrove where she laid low for the first year. after a while, she began working in purgatory as a bartender until she decided she wanted to be front and centre stage, ending up becoming a dancer. 

while delphine isn’t fond of the idea of serving demons, she isn’t utterly opposed to working alongside them nor using her demonic powers. delphine can be a ruthless, callous creature who most definitely doesn’t exist to serve anybody or bend to the will of anyone.

PERSONALITY.

the semblance of delphine can only be accurately encapsulated by ribbed turtlenecks and skin-tight jeans with red-bottomed heels. the air of her seemingly callous persona epitomised by the ease of narcissism and offhand sardonic quips accompanied by a playful grin. delphine is the perfect balance of an elegant, self-assured woman and an intelligent, artful creature; effortlessly displaying only a rare sum of her persona, the elements of her she wishes others to see while concealing all the other elements of herself she deems less than favourable. one’s initial opinion of delphine might be that she appears cold, the kind of person who wouldn’t blink while grasping any opportunity to cut you down only to build herself up. delphine couldn’t be farther removed from her childhood self. every inch, every last detail of the once bright-eyed young girl has been broken down and reshaped into the icy-glared creature who lives today. life strengthened her, shaped her into a careless adaption of who she once was; a woman who stands her ground and speaks up for herself and what she believes in, never fearing the consequences of her actions.

QUICK FACTS.

owns waaay too many pairs of heels.

her signature look is her blood-red lips.

often wears suits and totally rocks them.

extremely skilled with knives and blades. always carries one on her person at all times.

has never been in love or had her heart broken.

although she wears a lot of red, black is actually her favourite colour. she feels her most powerful in an all-black outfit.

her most prized possession is her brushed chrome zippo. it has her initials engraved on it and where she got it or from who is something she’ll never tell.

always seen with a cigarette in hand. she seriously chain smokes. always says she needs to quit but never does and probably never will either.

is very soft underneath and a lot more sensitive than she lets on but she’d rather die than expose this about herself.

has a history of both kleptomania and pyromania when she was a teenager.

has a felony of petty theft when she was fifteen.

has a psychology degree from nyu but never tells people about this.

drives way too fast but loves the thrill of it.

is aromantic. believes she doesn’t have the capacity to love.

can speak quite a few different languages though she never usually makes use of this.

she can be pretty deadly if you piss her off enough.  

thrives on chaos.

a tad theatrical.

is truly an independent woman who don’t need no man.

her drink of choice is vodka tonic.

WANTED PLOTS.

for wanted connections and potential plots, i’m open to anything and everything. seriously, throw any idea at me and if it has angst, i’m a million per cent there !! however, some connections i’d love to see delphine have are :

a confidant / friendship.

a best pal.

an unlikely supernatural creature who turns out to be her friend.

of course, fellow demons.

a potential love interest.

past or present flings / hookups / fwb / one night stands.

frenemies or plain ole enemies.

clashing personalities.

somebody she often spends time with, most likely drinking with.

[taeyongluvs-blog]

You & Me

SUMMARY: I love you and your baggages.

GENRE: Angst, Slice of life, Fluff

PAIRING: Sicheng and Reader

NOTE(S): Thank god, its not angst only hehe. Also, this is the longest that I have written so far so enjoy lots!!

You had known Sicheng ever since he transferred to your middle school. You had been in the same classes since and at one point, in the same neighborhood until they moved when it was your junior year in high school and that would be the last time that you had seen the Chinese lad.

It was stupid but ever since you saw him on the first day of sixth grade, you immediately formed a crush on him. He was really cute with his snaggletooth, high, chubby cheeks, doe eyes—everything. You liked everything about Sicheng but you were always afraid to talk to him because as much as he looked nice, rumors started spreading that he was a snob. Your sixth grade self was afraid of getting rejected so you just dropped the idea of confesing to him all together.

But your feelings remained even until high school. You started thinking of confessing to him once again. What was there to lose, you thought? It wasn’t like you were friends with him so the ‘I don’t wanna risk our friendship’ was definitely crossed off the list. Even though you two had grown up together, had the same classes together and were now in the same neighborhood—he most definitely didn’t even know you existed.

Junior year was the year that you finally had courage to confess to him. You told your best friend, Jaehyun, about it and he helped you practice what you were going to say to Sicheng on the night of the Winter Formal. It was easy. It was only three words. You were going to come up to him and just say those three words.

I like you.

But before you could even execute the plan, it was already ruined because that night, Sicheng—who usually went alone during school dances—was with someone else. It was Gaeul, Class 3-A’s top student, the envy of many because of her good looks, kind and approachable personality and athleticism. It didn’t take long (since it was high school) for the story of how they ended up together rose. Apparently they had been seeing each other for a while now. It was Gaeul who made the first move, they said. She would frequent the café Sicheng worked at and they bonded through that. Sooner or later, they started dating and the rest was history. They apparently wanted to keep the relationship private but that was high school and it was a big drama and when two popular kids started dating, it was a huge deal, after all, and people wanted insights about the relationship.

You were devastated. You wished you confessed earlier and maybe the pain you were feeling wouldn’t too painful as it was. You ditched the formal all together and Jaehyun joined you waste the night away at your place, drinking and eventually falling asleep on the couch. You were just thankful that after the formal was winter break so you didn’t have to face them for a while however when the break was over and everyone came back to school, Gaeul and Sicheng were nowhere to be found.

Gaeul had apparently gotten scholarship at Standford University in the US while Sicheng and his family moved back to China where his father received a great job opportunity. It was a big news for a while; everyone was saddened at the shortlived romance of the two popular kids but just as quickly as it ran through the hallways and walls of your school, Gaeul and Sicheng were quickly forgotten when news of the latest rose.

But you had always wondered about them, mostly Sicheng. You wished you could have said good bye.

The years flew by so quickly after Sicheng and Gaeul suddenly left. You were now a doctor, a pediatrician to be specific and had established your clinic two years ago. Although Sicheng rarely crossed your mind, when he did, you wondered how he was doing, if he was fine and what was he up to now. But you always shut your mind when Sicheng popped into it. You got no time reminiscing about an old crush. Fortunately, you were always busy with your work so that helped keep your mind off of him.

Tonight was no exception. This was your busiest day so far ever since you opened up your clinic. You were tired and just wanted to go home so when the clock strucked nine, you immediately told your employees to go home and to close down the clinic however, someone came rushing inside, knocking down one of your nurses on the ground.

You spun around on your heel and to your surprise, you saw a familiar figure rushing towards you with a frantic look on his face, a child in his arms and another running after him.

“Sicheng?” you said in disbelief.

He was panting when he stopped only a few feet from you. “Are you the doctor? Can you please,” he swallowed the lump in his throat. “Please help my son, he’s burning and I-I-I don’t know what to do. Please, help me.”

You had so many question running in your mind. Son? He had a son? He looked about four and the other child, a girl, could she be his daughter? She looked like she was ten—exactly the time that passed when Sicheng and Gaeul left.

It was your guess but you didn’t have time to ask. “Yeah, yeah, okay, please calm down, sir and take a seat. I’ll check him up.”

After checking up on Jiyoon, his son, you went back to your office while your nurse carried the sleeping four year old behind you. Sicheng immediately stood up when you entered the office, carrying his daughter, Jisoo, in his arms. You smiled at him and proceeded to walk over to your desk and sat down on your chair.

“You don’t need to worry, Mr. Dong, Jiyoon is absolutely fine. Fevers aren’t necessarily a bad thing. They are usually implication that the body is fighting off infections. After checking up on him, we didn’t find anything serious so you can take a deep sigh of relief. Your son is fine.” you told Sicheng who looked relieved once you finished talking.

“Oh thank god.” Sicheng breathed out, holding his daughter tightly against him. The nurse came in not too long after and she asked where she should put Jiyoon. Sicheng told her that he can take them both in his arms so, hesitantly, the nurse did. The Chinese man held his two kids in his arms at ease, placing a kiss on his son’s forehead and whispering something in Chinese. Though you weren’t very good at it, you understood that he whispered something along the line of, “you scared me to death.”

You looked at them for a while, in awe. Who would have thought? But you quickly snapped out of your trance and cleared your throat.

“Here’s the medicine he can take. Everything is already written in here so follow the procedure carefully, it is a must. If anything else happens, just contact me. I’d be very happy to help out.” you handed him the paper containing your clinic’s contact numbers and his son’s medicine and he gladly accepted it.

“I’m sorry for barging in like that and knocking down one of your nurses in the process. I just didn’t know what to do. Also, um, its nice to see you again, (Y/N), its been a long time.” Sicheng said, chuckling awkwardly.

Your eyes widened a bit. He recognized you? You looked at him. He was smiling. “Shocking, I know. I was too but here I am.”

“No, I, uh, I just, um, yeah, its been a while.” you mentally slapped yourself. Really? You thought.

“It’s really good to see you. I haven’t seen a familiar face other than Gaeul’s for years now. It’s refreshing.” Sicheng said.

“How’s she? Gaeul?” you asked.

Sicheng took a deep breath. “Married. She lives in Gangnam now with her husband.”

“You’re raising these kids alone?” you asked in surprise.

Sicheng nodded. “I can’t exactly persuade her too. I’d rather have them be raised by me than someone who despises them.”

You were stunned but then you felt a surge of admiration towards Sicheng. Not romantically... just pure admiration for the father that he was.

“You’re doing a good job, Sicheng. You really are.” you told him sincerely.

Jisoo squirmed under his arm and Sicheng flashed you an apologetic smile. “She’s getting uncomfortable. We need to go.”

“I can carry Jiyoon, if you want. It’s closing time anyways.” you offered, shrugging off your white coat.

“I don’t wanna ruin your plans. It’s okay, really. I can manage.”

“I know you can manage, Sicheng but as an old friend, I want to help. Please?”

So there you were, seated inside your car with Jisoo and Jiyoon at the back and Sicheng beside you on the front passenger seat. When he told you that they’d take the bus home, you just couldn’t let them do so. So after a not-so-long persuasion, Sicheng gave in and you were taking them home.

During the ride, Sicheng told you about what really happened ten years ago. After the Winter Formal, he and Gaeul had unprotected sex after a night of getting drunk at some guy’s after party. That resulted to her getting pregnant and when her parents found out, they were furious and his parents were too. Neither of their parents wanted to abort the child, however, but they also could not deal with the backlash of having teenage parents as their children so they devised a plan. They would hide the pregnancy by telling the school that Gaeul received a scholarship to Standford (which was true, after all) and Sicheng had to go back to China for his father’s job opportunity. But the reality was, the two of them were at the States together as they waited for the baby to be born to be put up to adoption.

But when the time came, after the baby was born, Sicheng—who had always been vocal about his taking responsibility for his child—convinced his parents to let him raise his kid even if Gaeul didn’t want to. Initially, they didn’t want to because they wanted him to have a normal life but eventually, they agreed. Until the age of five, Sicheng raised Jisoo in China with his parents while he continued his studies there and earned his degree in Architecture. A job opportunity opened in Korea so he went back with his daughter and was now working at working at the top engineering firm as one of their best architectures.

Jiyoon came into the picture three months after they settled in Korea. Sicheng was doing voluntary work at the orphanage near their home when he met the little guy and immediately fell in love. Jisoo became attached to him as well and Sicheng found no reason not to adopt him. They became a family of three then and it had been that way ever since. Well, four. They had a St. Bernard named Lola.

“Wow, that was a rollercoaster ride, wasn’t it?” you asked once he finished his story. You had arrived at their place hours ago but the conversation prolonged and it was now midnight.

“I know. I haven’t really told anyone that. I’m glad I did.” Sicheng replied.

“I know I already said it but you really are doing a great job raising them, Sicheng. Not many people can raise two kids and a St. Bernard alone.” you said, flashing him a smile.

“I’m doing my best.” he said and you nodded.

Then, there was only silence. You savored it for a while. Who knew when will be the next time this could happen, right? You could not even believe this was happening.

“I have to go now. The clinic opens at eight.” you told him as you pushed yourself off the couch and grabbed your purse.

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Um, I’ll walk you out.”

And he did. You wished it was longer though but the journey was short and you found yourself standing in front of his front door.

“Thank you for helping me out with Jiyoon and the ride, (Y/N).” Sicheng said, hands inside his pockets.

“Anytime. Good night, Sicheng. It was really nice to see you.” you said.

“I’m glad I saw you again, (Y/N). Until next time, okay? Good night and take care on your way home.”

“And you still didn’t confess to him? (Y/N), god fucking dammit, I love you but you are the dumbest piece of shit I have ever met in my entire life. That was your chance and you totally blew it.” Jaehyun exclaimed, scoffing in disbelief as he looked at you in disappointment.

“It wasn’t the right time, Jae!” you argued back, groaning.

Jaehyun rolled his eyes, grabbed one of your couch pillows and threw it at you. You glared at him and he glared back. “Ten years. Its been ten fucking years, (Y/N) and the heavens led you two back into each others’ lives and you tell me that it wasn’t the right time? Don’t fucking tell me that, (Y/N). That was the right time!”

“Look, he’s not like he’s married, Jae. I can confess to him anytime.” you reasoned, furrowing your eyebrows. “Look, you know what? I don’t think I will.”

“You’re gonna—,”

“Maybe I will, Jae, maybe I won’t. Truth is, I’m just happy that he is back. I’m happy to be his friend, to be the doctor of his kid. That is enough for me.”

Jaehyun sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. “Alright, alright, your call,” he said then he cleared his throat. “So will that mean he’s coming to the reunion?”

“What reunion?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Check your email. I gotta go, I have to pick up Taeyong on the way to work.” Jaehyun said, waving at you as he left your apartment.

“You dumb ass, your decorations for the proposal is in your trunk! Use mine, instead!” you yelled after him.

“I forgot, god! You made me nervous again, stupid shit!” Jaehyun groaned as he ran back inside and you tossed each other your keys. “Don’t ruin them, I swear.”

“Don’t ruin my car as well. Now go! I have to go to the clinic.”

Two weeks later, you along with Jaehyun who brought Taeyong along with him as his date, came to your high school reunion. You were dressed in a simple white dress that hugged your curves perfectly and adorned with simple silver accessories that were given to you by Taeyong as an early birthday gift. Your best friend and his boyfriend were dressed in traditional suit and ties, looking very dashing and handsome that everyone literally stopped what they were doing when they entered. You felt so small beside them when that happened so you immediately left and went somewhere else, grabbing a glass of champagne on the way.

In those two weeks, you and Sicheng had not spoken a word to one another. You even wondered if what happened really happened or you were just imagining things. You would be lying if you said you weren’t hurt because you were but then again, why should he contact you anyways? You, as a person, didn’t have any business with him. As a doctor, maybe but you guessed his son was better now and you weren’t selfish enough to wish he wasn’t to see his father.

As you stood by the sidelines, watching as everyone you had gone to high school with interact and reminisce with one another, you wondered if Sicheng would come. If Ten sent him an invite or even reached him at all. You were finally realizing that maybe you and Sicheng were never really going to be together. That the universe, the fates and destiny all conspired to let you have the biggest and saddest unrequited love in the history of mankind.

Love, you scoffed bitterly at the word. Love was supposed to make you feel happy, delighted, optimistic—not sad, hurt and broken. Maybe love wasn’t for you.

The program started soon. Ten was the MC along with Doyoung and you tried your best to enjoy the night. You danced with your high school girl friends, some guys who asked you to dance, Jaehyun, Taeyong, Ten, Doyoung—but you were surprised when someone had cleared their throat behind you when you were dancing with Kun. The both of you stopped swaying to the music and looked at who it was—it was Sicheng, clad in all black suit.

“May I have this dance, (Y/N)?” He asked, holding out his hand for you to take.

You were speechless, mouth dry. Sicheng, the man you had been completely head over heels all your life, was asking you to dance? This must be your dream. You looked at Kun who was smiling at the both of you and nodded before letting you go and placing your hand onto Sicheng’s. He patted Sicheng on the shoulder and told him, “about time” in Chinese before he disappeared into the crowd.

Sicheng pulled you close to him, placing arm wrapped around your lower back. You were nervous, scared, excited—all at the same time. Your heart was pounding so hard you were afraid it would jump out of your chest. You were so close to him. You could smell his cologne, his aftershave—him.

“You look beautiful, (Y/N), you always did.” Sicheng whispered in your ear, moving the both of you to the rhythm of the music. “I’m sorry for not texting you or calling you the past two weeks. I got so busy with work and the kids had recitals and needed help with practicing. I know I should have texted you or leave a voicemail but—,”

“Sicheng, I’m in love with you.” you blurted out, looking up at him with tears in your eyes. You let out a small laugh, lowering your gaze. “I don’t know how because I knew it was just a crush but then one day, I woke up and I realized that I love you. I, I love you, Sicheng.”

Sicheng didn’t say anything. Not that you were expecting him to. You couldn’t hold it in. That was your right time. You took a deep, shaky breath and were about to let go of Sicheng when he, surprisingly, placed his lips on yours. You were shocked, stunned, taken aback. Sicheng cupped your face, resting his forehead on yours. “I’m in love with you too. Ever since the day I met you.”

A lot happened after a year. You and Sicheng got together, married and you officially moved into their home and became his children’s mother. They loved you and you loved them though Lola was a bit off with you the first few months you moved into the house. You didn’t blame the St. Bernard and it only took several belly rubs and letting her sleep between you and Sicheng at night and she finally came around and started loving you too. You didn’t think you could be any happier until you found out you were going to become a mother. You just remembered being so happy that you were crying so much on the toilet seat and Sicheng walked in, worried with Jisoo, Jiyoon and Lola behind him. He rushed towards you, asked what happened and you showed him the pregnancy test.

You were in your second trimester now and had just finished the ultrasound with Sicheng where you found out that you were having a boy. The two of you decided to walk down the nearby park first before picking up Jiyoon from kindergarten.

“Hey, why did you fall in love with me? I mean, Gaeul—she’s smarter, prettier... So, why me?” you asked your husband, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Because you’re you. You’re (Y/N) and I love you.” Sicheng replied, kissing your forehead.

“But if you loved me, how come you dated her back in high school? Why didn’t you confess?” you asked again, a small pout forming on your lips. You didn’t know why you were suddenly asking this but you blamed it on your hormones.

“Well, babe, why didn’t you?” He asked back and you rolled your eyes. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around you, pulling you close to him. “(Y/N), I don’t regret a lot of things in my life. If I didn’t date Gaeul, I wouldn’t have Jisoo and I can’t imagine life without my baby girl, you know? I didn’t confess to you because of the same reason you didn’t confess to me that night during winter formal—it was too late.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you were with Jaehyun! I saw you leaving with him.” Sicheng exclaimed.

“He’s my best friend, Sicheng! He’s also gay, even back then!” you exclaimed back, punching his shoulder lightly.

“I didn’t know, okay? Look, it doesn’t even matter. What happened that night during the formal—they happened to lead us to where we are right now. We’re a family now, (Y/N).”

You smiled at him. He was right. Back then, lots of things didn’t make any sense but now they did. They really did.

[broadwaybydesign]

The Rose of Tacloban: Costuming “Here Lies Love”

Tragedy struck and the original post I made about Here Lies Love disappeared into the ether, so I’m going to do my best to reconstruct it here. Many thanks to the anons who suggested this production to me, and to @conradricamoras and @annbradleys for sending me information about the show itself!

I have a confession to start off this review: until I got the Anon asks, I had never even heard of Here Lies Love, and that is a tragedy. Having now had the opportunity to look at the costumes for this production and listen to the music thanks to iTunes, I can safely say that this is an amazing show that deserves a full Broadway run. If you haven’t come across it, there’s probably a reason for that; while well-received and critically acclaimed, the show only had an off-Broadway run and a Seattle revival. But despite that, it attracted an amazing cast, including future Tony Award winning actress Ruthie Ann Miles and How to Get Away With Murder’s Conrad Ricamore.

First, a little background on what this show is. The genesis of the show is in a concept album by British producer Fatboy Slim, based on the life and times of Imelda Marcos, the fashionista diva First Lady of the Philippines during the years of Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship. Eventually converted into a musical, the production follows Imelda’s life throughout a period of the dictatorship, including her dating of democracy icon Ninoy Aquino, marriage to Ferdinand Marcos, and her time as First Lady.

Imelda Marcos is still very much the subject of a disputed legacy in The Philippines, and I’ll offer a few more comments on why the musical has been called problematic after the costume review. But to give you an idea of the dispute, on the one hand she has been frequently accused of robbing the country blind to sustain her lifestyle, but on the other hand is beloved enough to have been elected to the country’s House of Representatives some four times, and is in office today. Contested legacies always make for the most interesting stories, so this is already quite a production.

The costume designer for this show is Clint Ramos, himself of Filipino origin, who relied on his memories of the Marcos regime (including, as a child, meeting Imelda herself) in crafting the production’s rich costumes. He focused on bright colors to match with his memories of Filipino fashion and the woman herself, who was always styled to the nines. But in relying on traditional elements, the color scheme could come off a bit garish--and he notes that’s by design. In an interview with the New York Times, he commented that when he found out Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour would be in the audience for a show that, “If you say anything to her [Wintour], please tell her that it is intentionally tacky.”

Some are indeed tacky, but others? Other costumes are a sheer delight. Let’s take a look at some of them:

I’m starting with this group spread from Chance magazine because it features two designs (the far left and center right) that I want to talk about in detail, but also offers us a look at two of the simpler costumes. On the far right is a blue dress in a sateen fabric that has one of the trademarks of Filipino design and Imelda Marcos herself: powerful butterfly sleeves, that is, sleeves that resemble butterfly wings in the way they pop up above the shoulders of the dress itself. 

The other dress just briefly touched on is the one at center left. Mr Ramos adapted the flag of the Philippines, and while some credit has to be given to the flag’s designer, I love the way he made it work as a costume. The red and blue are rich and satiny, and the triangular element at the center is absolutely perfect for the bust of the dress. It’s a simple, but tasteful, design that I greatly enjoy.

The dress at center right is the first I want to take a closer look at. This dress comes from the “The Rose of Tacloban” number, whence I took the title of this overall review. Let’s take a look at it in the context of the musical and a bit closer up:

I’ve talked about patterned dresses before, and this is an example of a multicolored floral that absolutely would have been accessible to a Filipino women in the era of the musical. It’s a classic A-line dress decorated sumptuously in a series of red, orange, gold, and purple flowers. What I really like about the dress is that it has a simple series of lines that allow the individual flowers to stand out against the white fabric; it looks almost like a set of wildflowers that have been arranged, rather than being a specific pattern, and that gives it a little bit more of a visual pop. Take a look at this closeup of the group shot for a better idea of what I mean:

The dress is designed to stand out because of the pattern rather than any kind of adornment, and because the pattern is abstract rather than specific or geometric, the eye is able to sort of just take in the whole rather than focusing on specific parts. I like that, though I think there is something to be said for a repeating pattern; here, Mr Ramos’ design works and makes the overall appearance quite pleasant.

I noted I also wanted to take a look at the far left entry in the above group shot. This dress is visually stunning and there’s a clear reason why. Take a look at it in isolation first so I can offer some general comments:

I’ve mentioned in the past that I love the two polar extremes in costuming: sleek and traditional, and overtly showy. This dress manages to combine both of those elements and makes it one of my all-time favorite costumes. We’ll start from the top and go down. The dress itself is in a rich white fabric and has slight butterfly sleeves, smaller than those in the blue dress I referred to earlier, but nonetheless impressive. Below the waste, on the bottom of the dress, however is what makes this so visually stunning. The red elements resemble roses or rose petals falling to earth against a white background. The color is a rich ruby-red and is pretty clearly embellished with beadwork and sequining. I’d even go so far as to say that, under the right lighting, this could even appear to be blood red (and there is definitely metaphorical value there) Compare the finished product above with the original sketch:

Many a time in the past, I have talked about how vital a costumer’s sketch is to the overall costume design process, and how a dress will often evolve greatly from first draft to final product. Here, we see that the original envision was for splashes of red, and given the context of the end of the musical (where this costume appears), that idea of blood-red definitely makes sense; while the focus of the musical is definitely not on violence, there are references to Ferdinand Marcos’ imposition of martial law and the repression that Imelda played a part in defending.

But Mr Ramos’ design changed from spatter to beautiful pattern over the course of the costume’s construction, and while elements of the original design were retained--the flower petals I talked about earlier definitely feel like the splatter of the original design--the hem of the dress became far more rich and detailed, and is what instantly elevates this costume in my mind. Take a look at the sketch above, and then take a look at the finished hem of the dress:

The flower petals continue to fall until they intersect with a series of paisley-like lozenges that run along the entire circumference of the dress, in a stunning, rich red color that matches the upper design elements. There is clearly some sequining and beadwork evident in these pieces, which adds a little bit more sparkle and heft to an already weighty dress. I love the way there’s an almost lacy quality to the lozenges themselves and the way they are linked into a chain by the hem of the dress. Each lozenge also has a single rose rising out of the top, which I think has to be seen as a tie to the earlier Rose of Tacloban dress.

These two dresses together offer a view of some of the more classical looks that are used in the musical, but so far, we haven’t seen much in the way of what Mr Ramos described as intentionally tacky...so let’s take a look at one of those dresses now. Prepare for a stunning shock of color (and design work!):

You really cannot beat the shocking electric pink of this dress for WOW factor, even if you are not a huge fan of the color itself. Pink is a color that was associated with Imelda Marcos, and so costuming Ms Miles in it in various scenes makes quite a bit of sense. There is a lot going on besides the color, however, when looking at this dress. There are layers of satin fabric with an almost sheer chiffon tone to parts of it, lacework in the bodice, sequins on the body of the dress and the bodice itself, and then there are those roses.

The sateen roses are my favorite element of this dress, even if they add to the overall over-the-top feel of the number. Having worked with fabrics before, it is not easy to create the look of a realistic flower and fix it to a dress in such a way as to avoid it being cumbersome, or the design effect being lost. The roses run up the side of the dress and form a bouquet that the eye absolutely has to drink in; what I also like about the roses themselves is that they are in differing shades of pink rather than just the electric of the dress itself.

Looking at the bodice, we can see the overlaid netting or lace work, which comes together to form another floral pattern that I am almost positive has a plastic element to it; plastic isn’t used a lot in dressmaking, but it can sometimes offer a stiffness to a piece of design work that you could not get otherwise. The bodice gives way to butterfly sleeves that are richly patterned with flower petal-like elements and capped off with yet more sateen roses. The overall effect is akin to a beauty queen dress (which makes sense given the character of Imelda Marcos in real life and in Here Lies Love). It’s ostentatious, it’s showy, it’s dramatic, and it’s memorable.

Mr Ramos uses pink for another costume, which is no less beautiful or interesting in color, which is far more reserved. Take a look at this dress in a scene where Imelda is pictured alongside her husband, Ferdinand Marcos (played by Jose Llana):

If you looked at this and immediately thought of Jacqueline Kennedy’s classic couture and Chanel suits, you are not alone; that was my first thought as well, and it makes sense. In this scene, there is even a lyric referring to the Marcos’ as “our Jackie and John.” The idea behind this pink dress is to show off Imelda as the chic, sophisticated spouse next to her politician husband. The lines are simple, the pink is strong but feminine, and it does not distract from anything around her.

The pink changes color depending on the lighting (as most costumes do, as I have noted in a multitude of reviews). Take a look at the dress in motion, which also lets us look at the few detail elements that the outfit possesses:

The hat is clearly a pillbox type in the vein of Jackie Kennedy and the perfect roundness of it matches the buttons that are the only real adornment to the dress itself. It is a business suit, designed for a woman playing a supporting role, and the color and sheen of the fabric is what is allowed to do most of the work. That’s a good design choice on the part of Mr Ramos; there can only be so many overpowering costumes at once, after all!

Another understated but beautiful dress can be seen here, in shades of blue and purple, with stitching that is reminiscent of traditional design elements in Filipino fabrics and textiles:

I’ll start with the easiest part of this costume to review: the skirt itself. It’s a pretty teal blue that would cling to the figure of the wearer and accentuate their femininity, while not detracting from the coat element of the dress.

The coat itself is richly designed in grays and blues, with a metallic thread designed to catch the light and look different depending on the context. Here, with neutral lighting, it looks very much like a dull gold or silver depending on the layer of the dress. The embroidery is replicated in rows, which gives an interesting, almost geometric look to the dress overall. But it’s when the costume is viewed in the context of the lighting of the show that it’s most interesting. Take a look at how the metallic threads in the embroidery help the dress to almost glow with purple:

This is not an easy effect to muster, and I love the way that the purple lighting hitting the dress causes the dress--itself gray and gold and blue--to light up in purple as well. The metallic threads used for the design work catch the light and reflect it, softening it a little bit but still retaining the purple hue. The effect is to make the actress really be the center of the audience’s attention. You cannot help but pay attention to Ms Miles in this costume, because every movement makes her look just slightly different as more or less of the metallic embroidery is illuminated by the stage lights. It’s an effect that is subtle, but with a monumental impact.

The last two costumes I want to look at are a study in contrasts, one extraordinarily tacky by Mr Ramos’ own admission, and the other far more muted and somber. First is the discotheque dress that Mr Ramos designed for Ms Miles to wear in her guise as Imelda Marcos. This is one that has to be seen to be believed, but it absolutely screams 1980s tackiness and club culture:

Hel-lo, plastic! And yes, I do mean that literally; this dress is constructed entirely out of plastic elements stitched together with thread. The overall impact is one that shimmers with even the slightest movement. Each plastic circle is capable of independent movement, and the coloring of each disk is slightly different, though overall the dress is a gold color. I’ve talked about dresses catching the light a lot, but in this case, the dress itself basically becomes a disco ball unto itself, and it really is the peak of Imelda’s character Not Getting It. It’s the “let them eat cake” dress, the privileged Imelda dancing the night away as her country is oppressed by her husband’s regime.

Compare that tackiness to one of the most somber, elegant pieces in the musical, and the one I’ll conclude the costume portion of the review with:

Gone are the garish colors, gone are the adornments, gone are the design elements. Instead, we have a simple (if elegant) cream frock that imbues the character--stunningly--with a sense of innocence or naïvety. That’s an interesting choice on Mr Ramos’ part; there’s a mournful quality to this piece that isn’t present in any of the other costumes. The buttons harken back to the buttons of the Pink Suit from earlier, but otherwise this dress is utterly demure.

The richness and elegance of the dress are brought by the circular design elements that are part of the fabric itself. It swirls and flows all over Ms Miles’ figure, as though mapping the whirlwinds of change surrounding the character at this point in the musical. There is, however, a little bit of the metallic threading seen on the gray and blue dress from earlier. But whereas that helped the character to stand out, this time they make the dress glow in a way that shows that despite every event in The Philippines, Imelda is a victim in her own mind, and the dress reflects the innocence she feels, rather than any innocence that exists in reality.

Overall, I find Mr Ramos costume choices to be absolutely perfect and beyond beautiful. Even when they run towards the tacky (the beauty queen dress and the gold disco number), they still have something that makes them enjoyable to behold. The red and white dress definitely made it into the pantheon of my favorite dresses, and I think there is a lot of symbolism there that only adds to the beauty that the audience is able to appreciate.

Since this was an off-Broadway production, Mr Ramos was not eligible for a Tony Award for his design work, but he was the recipient of the Lucille Lortel award, and it was absolutely deserved in my opinion, and I would like to see these designs get some wider exposure.

As promised earlier, I’m going to offer a few thoughts about the musical generally at this juncture, because Mr Ramos’ designs and his own comments are so much a part of what makes this musical interesting.

People often draw a comparison between Here Lies Love and Evita, and I think those comparisons make a lot of sense. Both musicals deal with a woman who was in a supporting role to a husband whose government was dictatorial and repressive, both deal with a woman known in large part for her style, fashion, and outsized personality, and both musicals try to address how we should view these women. But whereas Evita makes one feel sympathy for the character of Eva, the effect is much more muddled in Here Lies Love.

Imelda Marcos is portrayed as very much a creature and product of her circumstances, happy to play a key role in her husband’s regime while still trying to retain some distance and play the innocent. Whereas the 11 o’clock number for Evita is “You Must Love Me,” a love song to the people of Argentina and her husband, Imelda’s last song is “Why Don’t You Love Me?” and she’s costumed in the red and white dress for it.

The song itself makes clear that the character of Imelda doesn’t understand why she is so reviled by so many of the people. After all, what more could she have done to show them love and affection? And that is where the design of the dress comes in and plays a key role. As Mr Ramos himself said, he wanted to give the audience the idea of Imelda having reached the pinnacle of fashion and beauty while wading through the blood of the victims of her husband’s regime.

And she simply doesn’t understand that. She doesn’t understand that she was the public face of the regime, and that the victims of the regime were numerous. Even her former boyfriend, democracy activist and Senator Ninoy Aquino, is slain as part of Ferdinand Marcos’ effort to hold onto power. She thinks of herself as the people’s heroine when the reality is that she is a hero only in her own mind, and maybe a few others.

I think this is an important story to tell because it allows us to see this woman as more than a one-dimensional character. She believes in her own purity, all the while not seeing the rot and horror around her. There’s an innocence in that which is captured well in the elegance of most of Mr Ramos’ designs, while her devil-may-care attitude towards the repression she is happy to reap the rewards of is displayed in the tackier costumes.

As I said at the start of the review, Here Lies Love is a musical that has been criticized as problematic because it does not portray Imelda Marcos as singularly evil. But that’s part of the point. Still alive today, her legacy is still being debated. The audience should walk away questioning what they just saw, and questioning whether a person can ever truly be innocent when they play a role in a regime that could be as repressive as the Marcos government. As Mr Ramos said in the interview I linked earlier, the audience should leave asking “Why the hell was I dancing to that?” And why, in fact, was Imelda dancing at all.

This is an important production that deserves to be seen by a wider audience. The biggest problem with staging it as a Broadway show might be the stage design, which encourages audience interaction and is unique in theatrical productions. To give you an idea what I mean, the people standing in the pit at stage level are all members of the audience, and the actors are able to interact with them when warranted:

Three years ago, when this production was being staged off-Broadway, stage design was still rather traditional and audience participation or the audience being close to the action was still a rarity. But the runaway success of a production like The Great Comet makes me think that Broadway theatres might be willing to take a chance on customizing their staging for a production like this.

As longtime readers of my blog(s) know, I am a huge advocate of diversity in theatre, and it’s one of the other reasons I would love to see a full Broadway production of Here Lies Love. This is a musical that features (or should feature) an all-Asian cast in serious, non-stereotypical roles, which is something that we really don’t see much of (I don’t particularly see The King and I or Miss Saigon as offering Asian actors non-stereotypical roles, for instance). I hope that in the future, this beautifully costumed, musically interesting, and innovative musical will get the full run it deserves.

Phew! That was a long review, and thank you for sticking it out! I really enjoyed this review, and I hope you all enjoyed it as well and have the time and the inclination to check it out if you can.

As always, dear readers, I want to hear your feedback, so feel free to reblog with comments, drop an Ask or Submission, or message me here or on my main account. Until the next review, stay tuned!

[offtosavetheearth]

July 20th, 2018

This morning I got up super late and didn’t have time to eat breakfast with Rina this morning. I was supposed to go to the café at 7am, but of course I didn’t get up. I met the class at 9am to go to the ETAPA Sustag Water Treatment Plant. ETAPA is Cuenca’s water agency, and they operate more than thirty water treatment plants. They also help protect the watersheds that are important to Cuenca’s water supply, and play an important role in managing Cajas National Park.

Our visit was guided by the workers of the plant. This modern plant in the southwest of Cuenca provides water to over 35,000 people; part of it comes from Cajas National Park, protected by this agency.

This plant operates according to ISO, the international standard of water quality. Javier, a chemical engineer, explained to us that the water comes from the river and is relatively pure because of the short distance it travels down the mountain. Once the water flows into the plant, at 200 liters a second, it passes through a sediment filter and then the inorganic coagulant aluminum sulfate is added, which creates clumps of bacteria and debris at the top. This process causes several simultaneous chemical and physical interactions on and among the particles. Within seconds, negative charges on the particles are neutralized by inorganic coagulants. Also within seconds, metal hydroxide precipitates of the iron and aluminum ions begin to form. These precipitates combine into larger particles under natural processes such as Brownian motion and through induced mixing, otherwise known as flocculation. During flocculation, aluminum and hydroxide absorb and enmesh particles in suspension and facilitate the removal of particles by subsequent processes of sedimentation and filtration.

From here, the water exiting the flocculation enters a sedimentation basin, also called a clarifier. It is a large tank with low water velocities that allows excess floc to settle at the bottom. The one we save was circular, where the flow of the water was center outward. As particles settle to the bottom of a sedimentation basin, a layer of sludge/mud forms on the floor. This mud is removed and dehydrated, to later return to landfills, instead of putting it back in the river as most water treatment plants do. While the sludge is separated, water runs to a rapid sand filter, moving vertically through sand which often has a layer of activated carbon above it. The top layer removes organic compounds which contribute to taste and odor.

The last disinfection method involves small amount of chlorine. The water must be moved to storage tanks, where for every one million parts water, 1 part chlorine is injected. This strong oxidant rapidly kills many harmful micro-organisms.

The international standard for turbidity is 5, but ETAPA exceeds all expectations by delivering water to Cuenca at .3. Since this water is cheap and subsidized, Cuencans use about 200 liters per person per day. Those in the suburbs (poorer people) pay 5 dollars a month, while richer folks pay about 15. Created nine years ago, this is one of the most modern plants, of the three large and thirty small ones with lower quality water. Monitored by 2 people every 8 hour shift, they are responsible for the drinking water of 40,000 people.

In between lunch and the second lecture of the day, I went to NY Pizza and got a Pepperoni pizza and a coke. I know this is stupid, but I am a regular at that store because American food is the only thing that is keeping me sane while away. It makes me feel more relaxed, and I have Ecuadorian food all the time with Rina, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a waste of this opportunity. Also, it was one of the first times I ventured out alone without a group. I purposefully got lost twice before I had pizza, so I could learn how to find my way back and navigate the city. Let me tell you, it was a proud moment when I found my school again for the second time in a row. I got even braver, and went past CEDEI to a really beautiful coffee shop.

I came to get an iced latte and work on my logbook, but something really…unsettling… happened to me while I was waiting for my drink. A little Ecuadorian girl ran into the shop and made a bee-line straight for my table. She was talking really fast and making a texting motion with her hands, because I had my iphone out. But, she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. I simply said “no habla espanol”, but I did catch the drift of the question. She needed to use my phone to text her mom. But she didn’t appear frightened? Or lost? She kept waiting at my table and I said again, “lo siento, no habla espanol” and looked away from her. I looked up a second later, and she was nowhere to be found.

A couple of friends from the group came to meet me at the coffee shop (LOOK WHO IS INDEPENDENT & LEADING THE PACK NOW), and we talked about how we were starting to get over the whole foreign country thing and the daily annoyances in life were getting to us. I think that means we are comfortable here? Anyways, I talked about how the wooden bed that I sleep on is killing my back and my neck, and another student talked about how they were ready for homestays to be over. I agreed, I felt that I had gotten all that I could out of my homestay experience, and there was not really anything left to observe. I basically just say good morning and good night to Rina, and we visit after dinner for about 20 minutes talking about our day. It’s hard to get past the language barrier and bond, but we have a few times over things like politics and family.

It was the weirdest thing though….we were walking out of the coffee shop and I saw that girl again. Except she was with her mom a couple blocks down from the coffee shop, and they were walking the other direction really fast. I don’t want to assume the worst but I am 99% sure that her mom was sending her around the area to steal from tourists. Dr. Knapp was talking about it a couple days ago…and woah. Wow. Wtf. CHILDREN ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SACRED, INNOCENT, AND PURE!!

I am in another culture though. And even if I wasn’t in another culture, I don’t know the families situation or how badly they need money. I understand what it is like to be tight on money, but never to the point of that type of desperation. It is a sort of mixed feeling that I felt. Confused but…understanding at the same time…yet not understanding. I still don’t know what to make of it. At what point is it not wrong to steal, and is it different based on culture?

I got nice and calm though when we had our traditional medicinal lecture. Sisa Pacari Bacacela Guaman, a Quichua-speaking member of the Saraguro nation, lectured in Spanish on traditional and indigenous use of plants, with demonstrations.

I was REALLY liked this lecture because I’m into essential oils and smells as a source of meditation and relaxation.  

Sisa explained to us that the definition of sickness is when there is nonviolent conflict between the spiritual and physical world. We are simply molecules all interconnected, and our physical being experiences pain when there is an imbalance. Their traditional medicines have been used 18,000 years before the existence of Christ, and they classify plants in terms of power, gender, and altitude.

Plant introductions began with the altitude category. Chukirawaa, known to detoxify the body when consumed for nine days, is only found in the Andes at 2500 meters above sea level. Tipo, consumed as a tea for altitude sicknesss, is also found in the high Andes. Laurel, oxcilliar to Tipo can be rubbed into a pulp and smelled.

Gender was next, starting with Alpal Paleo, a feminine plant for allergies that is a symbol for earth, and can be consumed as a tea or applied as a salve. The feminine plant Yerba, or San Antonio, is used for the skin, throat problems, and contains penicillin. Caballo Chupa or horse hair can be feminine or masculine, with the masculine type being thicker and used for digestion and detoxification. Shuyu, a refreshing feminine plant that helps with fever, works well with the Caballo Chupa plant. A masculine plant, flor de tio, helps with respiratory issues and bronchitis. You use three flowers, three eucalyptus leaves, and three nettle leaves in a tea for nine days.

Lastly, Power classification discussed the San Pedro cactus, which can range from three to fifteen spines, with the most powerful ones having the most spines. It can grow 1-7 meters tall and only the most advanced shaman, at level 7, can handle this plant. Druda, mixed with other medicinal plants, is used for external cleansing and looks like a bunch of tea leaves. Machua, for anemia and mineral deficiencies, is related to the potato and can be used for menstruation and prostate issues.

A cleanse was preformed after the lecture on Autumn. Sisa discussed the four elements, earth, fire, wind, and water, which are used in cleansings, typically preformed in sacred places. Ours was of course of simulation of the actual performance, but similar to how it would be practiced. Fire is the most important element in this representation, and is masculine because it represents the sun god and nucleus of energy. Water is feminine and ties to the physical world, air is masculine and important for every civilization ever founded on earth. Lastly, earth is feminine, and strongly interrelated to water. All societies recognize these elements, but some have stopped caring about pivotal points of nature for financial gain. For most medicinal plants, they must be taken for nine days total. This is because the ninth constellation in space is the most balanced. You may not take the medicine for more than 27 days.

Rose water was applied to our hands once the cleanse was finished. I really enjoyed the smells, such as the burning of the plants, and the scents that filled the room during the ritual. I hope to use more natural oils and plants when I return home, to relax and meditate.

This is kind of weird but after the cleanse I walked around Cuenca for three hours. It didn’t really seem like anyone was doing something I wanted to be a part of, and I didn’t want to go home either. I felt that I needed to venture out as well, since I was becoming braver about my whereabouts in the city. I was proud of myself because I found all of the places we visited during the city store, even the piti mas shop. I zoomed out of my own perspective, and realized that everything in Cuenca is about two blocks away. I am located in the central part of the city, and even if I did get lost again, it would not be that hard to find my way back.

It also helped that I used my maps; before I didn’t know that T-mobile allows free international data roaming, so now I can use my location on the maps to walk back home. I spent most of the time walking back and forth from the plaza near my house, and I sat there for a while watching the community participate in free salsa classes. What was weird to me was the actions of the local police during these classes. They all hung around the ladies salsa dancing, and took group pictures together. I thought that these classes happened pretty much every day, so why they would feel the need to document it was a mystery to me.

Rina texted me around 9 pm, wondering where I was. I felt guilty because she thought that Ginger and I were going to watch a movie with her, but we just dipped. My burner didn’t work so Autumn texted her for me. More guilt came when I arrived home and realized that I missed Abuela’s birthday dinner. Things like this repeatedly happen because we just can’t understand each other. Usually when I say I have plans or am going somewhere later, it is just ignored. A lot of times I feel like I’m the family baby being carried around on errands.

But nothing can really be done about that, unless CEDEI decides to give everyone bilingual families since this is an English program. I feel that somewhere between UT and CEDEI there is a miscommunication about the purpose to this program. Dinner was pasta with cut up hot dogs, which was nice because of how heavy pasta makes you feel. Side note: I find it strange how often hotdogs are randomly incorporated into dishes; in America we usually serve babies little cut up hotdogs. Most likely I am assuming it is because they don’t have access to a lot of quality meat. As was mentioned before, the cows they raise up here typically taste pretty tough since they are walking up and down the slopes of the Andes. The proportion of the meat is something I am definitely not used to. In Texas the majority of my plate is meat, but here the meat is the smallest portion, with most of the plate being potatoes, rice, and vegetables. VERY carb heavy, but in a different way than the United States. I miss big steaks and pulled pork sandwiches, but also feel healthier and more energized here.

Listening to my playlists and walking around maximized comfort in this city, and gave me the breath of America I needed. This is also the longest I have been away from my boyfriend, so I got emotional walking around. I think a lot about how much fun he would have here, and how I wish he could experience this other world with me. But independence, self-reliance, and self-confidence is something I’ve always needed to work on. I generally focus on others needs rather than my own, so after this trip I think I will try to practice self-care, and do things for my own peace of mind. I have always wanted to be healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally.

So cheers to new goals and being selfish!

[junker-town]

The SEC Championship live blog: Dawgs get complete revenge and punch Playoff ticket

Georgia avenges its only loss and awaits its CFP destination.

Fourth quarter

Georgia 28, Auburn 7, final. A total reversal of Round 1. Auburn again missed scoring chances, but they wouldn’t have even mattered. With a 240-yard rushing day against Auburn and an efficient day by Jake Fromm, Georgia again looks like the most complete team in the country, if not necessarily the best. At the moment, I’m projecting UGA to meet Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl. The last two Power 5 title games matter here, though.

Georgia 28, Auburn 7, 4:59. Oh, that glimmer of hope got snuffed out, BTW. Dawgs are going to the Playoff.

Georgia 28, Auburn 7, 8:34. The Tigers’ last glimmer of hope: UGA threw on third-and-2 and missed, stopping the clock and forcing a punt.

Georgia 28, Auburn 7, 10:34. D’Andre Swift, 64 yards, bounced out to the sideline. Playoff just about clinched.

Georgia 21, Auburn 7, 12:20. Auburn looks helpless on offense again, with two hurried incompletions. Expect the Dawgs to lean on the clock.

Georgia 21, Auburn 7, 13:06. The Dawgs cash in quickly, with a fade from Jake Fromm to Terry Godwin for the TD, followed by another fade to the other side to Godwin for the 2-pointer. Auburn’s two missed scoring opportunities look massive right now.

Georgia 13, Auburn 7, 14:49. The difference in the game so far: Auburn had a turnover. Make that two, as Lorenzo Carter knocks the ball away from Kerryon Johnson and into Dawg hands.

Third quarter

Georgia 13, Auburn 7, 1:26. A 31-yard throw from Jake Fromm to Terry Godwin and 20-yard Nick Chubb run were the highlights of a seven-play drive that gave the Dawgs a little breathing room. UGA maintaining control up front, ever since a rough start.

Georgia 10, Auburn 7, 4:48. I’ve typed that score many times now! Auburn passed four times in five plays before punting, which isn’t exactly the Auburn brand, though the run game is still only managing 4 per carry.

Georgia 10, Auburn 7, 6:23. You’re not gonna believe this, but a penalty ruined the latest Georgia drive before it got rolling. This was ruled an illegal block on the lunging RB, Elijah Holyfield.

Georgia 10, Auburn 7, 8:56. An eight-play Auburn drive dies in the red zone when UGA blocks the field goal try.

Georgia 10, Auburn 7, 12:11. The Dawgs open the second half with a couple Sony Michel runs for a first down, then a punt for a touchback.

Second quarter

Georgia 10, Auburn 7, end of half. Just about even so far. Each QB has hit an explosive play and otherwise been harassed, neither running game is moving all that efficiently, but Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Jarrett Stidham, and Kerryon Johnson each have runs for double-digit yardage. The score should be 14-7 in favor of the Dawgs, if not for a bad flag on the goal line.

Georgia 10, Auburn 7, :49. A Jarrett Stidham arm punt to a wide-open Deandre Baker (who plays for Georgia) was nullified by a facemask penalty against Baker during the route. The eventual punt put it right around where it would’ve been anyway.

Georgia 10, Auburn 7, 5:45. Georgia’s found something new that’s working: quick throws to the outside. Sony Michel demonstrates here ...

... leading to what appeared to be a TD pass, though it was called back for what the officials felt to be a pick play, even though the defender shoved the WR into contact. Dawgs settled for field goal.

Tied at 7, 8:33. It’s UGA’s turn to own the trenches, for a change! The second quarter’s belong to the Dawgs so far, with Jarrett Stidham facing pressure throughout a three-and-out.

Auburn 7, Georgia 7, 10:14. Mecole Hardman, UGA’s lone ball-mover during long stretches of Round 1, converted a first down and then took another catch for 34 yards to finally get the Dawgs into Auburn territory. The Dawgs didn’t waste the chance, with Jake Fromm finding Isaac Nauta at the goal line to tie it up.

Auburn 7, Georgia, 0, 13:13. Jarrett Stidham held onto a ball in the red zone a little bit long, and a forced fumble by Davin Bellamy turned a sure field goal into UGA ball.

First quarter

Auburn 7, Georgia 0, end. An Auburn drive has been prolonged by a foul for driving Jarrett Stidham into the ground. Nobody really liked the call.

Auburn 7, Georgia 0, 4:30. Georgia won its first drive, snuffing out a Kerryon Johnson screen and getting the punt at its own 30.

Auburn 7, Georgia 0, 7:15. Well, UGA’s opening drive looked like a fifth quarter of the first game between these two. Tigers were in Jake Fromm’s aura repeatedly, sacking him twice and forcing a punt from midfield.

Auburn 7, Georgia 0, 9:54. Auburn spent most of the first half in Round 1 kicking field goals. Not this time. The 10-play drive involved five first downs, one via penalty, and eded with a six-yard zap up the middle from Jarrett Stidham to Nate Craig-Myers.

SEC Championship preview by Bill Connelly

It all began so well. When Auburn and Georgia played at Jordan-Hare Stadium three weeks ago, the Bulldogs got the ball first and drove 70 yards in eight plays for an easy touchdown. They faced only one third down, and freshman quarterback Jake Fromm completed passes of 28 and 26 yards. Sony Michel and Nick Chubb took it from there.

It was easy to see the first battle between these teams as a race to 24 points or so. Georgia's offense had been inefficient but more than productive enough to hand a decent point total over to a defense that had only once given up more than 19 points.

Auburn's offense had been all-or-nothing, having averaged 40 points per game in wins and 17 per game in losses since the start of 2015. In losses to Clemson and LSU earlier this fall, they scored zero second half points.

Technically, it was a race to 24. Only, one team got there more easily than anticipated.

When Georgia scored so easily out of the gates and Auburn could manage only three field goals in early scoring chances, it was easy to feel like the Dawgs had the game where they wanted it. In theory, Auburn was only going to be able to create so many chances.

But then Jarrett Stidham connected with Darius Slayton for a 42-yard score to make it 16-7 late in the first half. And Georgia's Rodrigo Blankenship missed a 42-yard field goal. And Mecole Hardman fumbled a punt return early in the second half. Auburn scored to go up 23-7, then 30-7, then 33-10, then 40-10.

After starting 3-for-3 for 56 yards, Fromm completed just seven of his next 21 passes for 103 yards and four sacks. Chubb and Michel finished with 48 yards in 20 carries. Once the avalanche began, the Dawgs had no idea how to stop it. They lost their composure and got blown out.

The good news for UGA is: things change.

Because there are no best-of-seven series, we think of single football games as referendums. Auburn beat Georgia; therefore, Auburn is better than Georgia and will therefore beat Georgia again.

Luckily for the Dawgs, that doesn't have to be the case. We don't get many rematches, but when do, the second result is often quite different than the first.

So what specifically went wrong for the Dawgs on the Plains?

And how likely are they to find a solution?

1. The freshman looked like a freshman (but it wasn’t really his fault)

You never know when it will happen; you just know that it will. Fromm has been incredible for most of the season. He has a 185.5 passer rating on first downs, when opponents are distracted by the run, and he has a 187.0 rating on third downs.

On third-and-four or more — semi-obvious passing situations — he's 37-for-64 for 656 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, and a 175.8 rating. That's impossibly good.

And there was bound to be some regression to the mean. Against Auburn on third-and-four or more, Fromm was 4-for-10 for 100 yards and two big sacks for a loss of 21. And honestly, gaining a net 79 yards on 12 pass attempts against Auburn in those situations isn't bad. But 28 of those yards came on the first third-and-long of the game. His next five produced one completion and two sacks, and by the time he found a rhythm, the Dawgs were down 23.

It’s easy to say a key is him improving in those situations. But really, the key will be avoiding them. Auburn ranks second in FBS in Passing Downs S&P+. Maybe Fromm can do a little better, but the Tigers are only going to give you so many mulligans. To move the ball, the Dawgs are going to have to get much better on first down. That might be the only way to keep pressure off of him — he was pressured on nearly 40 percent of his attempts.

UGA gained 34 yards in four first-down plays on the opening scoring drives, then gained 33 yards on six first-down snaps in a late garbage-time TD drive. In between: 14 plays, 15 yards. Every drive basically began on second-and-nine.

That’s not going to cut it. Be it either with better early-down passing — Fromm was sacked on first downs, too — or, simply, better run blocking, Georgia has to avoid second-and-longs if it wants to avoid its QB running for his life on third-and-long. That might not mean a complete overhaul in tactics, but it will definitely have to involve better execution.

2. Auburn’s short passing game broke the Georgia defense

On Auburn's first scoring drive, the Tigers gained 13 yards on a pass to Nate Craig-Myers in the flat and seven on a screen to Ryan Davis.

Third scoring drive: Jarrett Stidham completed a screen to Eli Stove for 19 yards and a pass to Chandler Cox in the flat for 17.

Fourth scoring drive (and first TD): They completed a screen to Ryan Davis for 11 yards and a screen to Kerryon Johnson for 11 before going deep to Darius Slayton.

Up 23-7 in the third quarter, the Tigers put the game away with a 32-yard screen pass to Davis.

Johnson took the headlines with his 32-carry, 167-yard performance against the Dawgs, but Auburn’s masterful creation of space for its receivers was, to me, what won both the Georgia and Alabama games.

Versus UGA, it appeared the Dawgs were very much preoccupied with the run, so Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey constantly used their momentum against them. They are in an incredible play-calling rhythm right now, showing exactly how you can use one advantage (in this case, Johnson’s strong running) to create three more.

Perhaps Johnson’s shoulder injury gives the Dawgs an opportunity. He is listed as probable, so one would expect him to play. But perhaps he will be in less shape to carry 30-plus times (or at least do it well), so maybe Georgia plays a little wider, willing to give Johnson some early yards in the name of stopping the deadly short passes?

Kirby Smart’s coached in a lot of huge games in his lifetime; he’ll come up with something. But Malzahn and Lindsey might have the answer to that, too.

A team that loses Game 1 in the NBA Playoffs doesn’t automatically get swept.

A tennis player who drops the first set 6-2 sometimes wins the second.

Georgia looked lost in the second half of the loss at Auburn, but in Atlanta, the Dawgs will have a chance to atone for their worst performance of the year.

It’s hard to forget that Auburn caused that performance, though.

How S&P+ picks it: Georgia 26 (+2.5), Auburn 25

Here’s your reminder that analytics look at the whole season. They don’t care how overwhelmed Georgia’s offensive line and quarterback became against Auburn’s defensive front. For that matter, they don’t care about Johnson’s shoulder injury.

All S&P+ sees is that, over the course of 12 games each, Georgia graded out as the slightly better team. We’ll see how much context ends up mattering.