twilight-aus

[twilight-aus]

Jack Wolfe as Gabe Goodman

So I've had a few "Tell me everything!" responses to my recent post about the Donmar Warehouse's stunning new production of Next to Normal. Knowing the audience here, I'll narrow my focus to writing about what I know my fellow 'Six of Crows' fans will most want to hear - Jack's role as Gabe. I won't be recapping the show itself, as I assume most folks reading this will have listened to the soundtrack, read the script, or watched a Broadway bootleg. Or at least I hope so, because below you will find MAJOR SPOILERS for Next to Normal and specifically the Donmar's staging of it.

Gabe is introduced to us as the Goodman's teenage son, who seemingly has a close affectionate relationship with his mother, Diana, but frosty relationships with his father Dan and sister Natalie, neither of whom acknowledge his presence. About thirty minutes in we are shown exactly why. Diana brings out an 18th birthday cake when the family have Nat's boyfriend Henry over for dinner and it is revealed that today would have been Gabe's birthday...if he'd been alive. But Gabe died when he was a baby and Diana has only been imagining him growing up all these years.

Up until this point, Jack has been playing Gabe as a cheeky rebellious teenager, but when he slinks back on stage to blow out the candles on his cake, he becomes a much more ethereal and impish presence. In I Am The One, his expression transforms from sweet and devoted when singing to his mom, to menacing and malevolent when singing to his dad. Gabe manifests as different personas for each member of his family and it's thrilling to watch as Jack shifts between them all. When Natalie comes downstairs to sing Superboy and the Invisible Girl we see Gabe as the cocky conceited older sibling, who seems to revel in being their mother's favorite.

In her next therapy session, Diana is asked to speak about her son and this is when we get Gabe's showstopping I'm Alive solo. This number really did raise the roof. I'll admit when I saw videos of Jack singing it at Tom Kitt's concert, I was worried he wasn't giving the song the necessary attack. But on stage he goes absolutely full-throttle with it. He starts at the top of the stairs with a mic stand, looking like the frontman of a rock band, then he brings the mic down, roaming all over the floor. At one point in the song, Natalie and Dan have an argument and Gabe comes to stand between them, looking amused as he passes the mic between them. However Gabe starts to lose some of his swagger as Diana's doctor suggests that - as 18 is the age that children typically leave home - maybe Diana should think about her son this way and finally let him go.

In the next scene, Diana is in the kitchen, clearing out Gabe's things. She holds up a baby-grow and then starts playing a music box she used to use to help Gabe to sleep. Gabe comes down the stairs with a rucksack and duffle bag, like he's a kid being kicked out of the house by his parents. Diana can't seem to go through with it as she pulls him into a dance and they end up hugging with Gabe's head tucked under his mother's chin, like a needy child. This leads into There's a World, a hauntingly beautiful song with a very sinister undertone as we learn this is Gabe leading Diana towards a suicide attempt. This song and Catch Me I'm Falling are an excellent display of Jack's high range (he'd make a wonderful Orpheus in Hadestown - the UK production is coming next year, so...please??)

Following the suicide attempt, Diana is given shock therapy and consequently loses her memories of the last eighteen years. In the early part of Act 2 and for the song Aftershocks, Gabe is up in one of the upstairs rooms, like he's been locked in a cell - not gone, but no longer able to get to Diana. When Diana finds and plays Gabe's music box, there's this very chilling sight of Gabe's silhouette, his hands pressing to the screen, as he sings along to the melody. The lighting here is eerily reminiscent of a sonogram. When Diana regains her memory of her lost son, Gabe breaks free of the room, comes down the stairs to sing his I'm Alive (Reprise) from on top of the kitchen counter. After his wife's relapse, Dan crumbles to the floor, his back pressed to the kitchen counter. Gabe disappears behind the other side of the counter, and (I'm told, I couldn't see from my angle) he sits in the same position as Dan. They both stay like this for about 15mins while scenes with Diana, Nat and Henry take place.

As Diana leaves, Dan finally rises from the floor and begins singing his I am the One (Reprise). In other videos of this song that I have seen, Gabe is played quite aggressively, stalking around Dan, goading his father into acknowledging him. Jack does this scene very differently and effectively. He stays behind the counter, his eyes downcast, his manner meek as if quietly pleading for his father's attention. When Dan yells out "Why didn't you go with her?!" Gabe leaps up onto the counter and throws his arms around Dan, desperately clinging to him. When they get to the chorus, Dan turns round to face Gabe, gripping his arms. Then at the end, Dan staggers back and tearfully says his son's name for the first time. When Gabe responds with his "Hi Dad", Jack's face his full of shocked awe. He plays it like a child realizing the father he thought hated him, loved him all along. It's a devastating moment that had everyone in tears.

After the song, Dan reaches out a hand towards Gabe, but he stops as Natalie comes downstairs. Dan tells Nat her mother has left and Nat asks him - "So it's just me and you for now?" and there's a hesitation where Dan glances at Gabe, who is still sitting on the counter. When Dan finally answers yes, it's just the two of them, Gabe's expression is accepting, not resentful like earlier in the show. As he leaves to go upstairs, Gabe gently touches Nat's hand, almost like an apology. Natalie gives the slightest reaction, as if she is sensing something. It's a beautiful resolve to Gabe's role, and when he appears for the last time for his verse in Light, he no longer feels like a malevolent spirit, but more like this serene angel watching over his family as they all try to heal and go on with lives.

This is honestly a star-making performance from Jack as a young musical theatre actor. And as much as I want Jack and the other Crows actors to be off filming their spinoff show once the strikes are resolved, I also feel strongly that Jack belongs on the stage. Between his acting, his presence and his vocals, he's sure to be a performer in demand in the West End. Here's hoping there's award nominations to come. He's deserving of them.

[twilight-aus]

*missing the charging port on my phone* don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it

[twilight-aus]

it’s the way im ALL dumb-ass,,, and i respect myself xx

am i cool yet: musicals i like edition

[twilight-aus]

another wesper au but it’s wesper as finnpoe

wy: omg no i kept your jacket here take it

jes: nono keep it it looks good on you *winks*

wy; blushes furiously

[twilight-aus]

maybe one day I will write this but 1) I have never read or watched pride and prejudice and 2) I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to writing

however wylan as elizabeth and jesper as mr darcy is everything i need and for wesper,,, ill watch pride and prejudice

pride and prejudice but it’s a wesper au

[twilight-aus]

pride and prejudice but it’s a wesper au

[twilight-aus]

stray kids x camp half blood (part 2)

part 2 is finally here and it’s time for changbin and hyunjin to take stage! i got really into writing these two so they seem a bit longer to me!! i fully intend to write a changjin fic in this universe one day so this is kinda just,, a way to explain backstory for me!

anyway here’s part 1 if anyone missed it and i hope you enjoy!!!

seo changbin- child of hades

okay,,, I know what you’re thinking,,, and I debated it too but he just fits so well as a child of hades so im resting my case with this. So,,, yeah theres that whole pact between the big three aka zeus, Poseidon and hades,,, and hades did stick to it,,, he just happened to totally forget that one time he didn’t but as no one ever came forward to be like “hey you gave me a kid??” he just chose to forget about it and stays loved up with Persephone down in the underworld. Changbin is pretty normal for the most part,,, goes to school, gets fussed over by his mum too much and likes to make music. Except,, well changbin knows he’s not normal when he came back from school one day and as he was fumbling to find his key to his apartment he shared with his mum,,, a huge pile of gold coins just appeared at his feet as he got more agitated when he couldn’t find his key… well his mum opened the door, saw the gold and was like,, well here we go. He gets sent to camp half blood that summer and is just like,,, I really don’t understand what I’m doing here when he’s with chan and chan just sorta looks at him funny before being like “well,, come and stay with me for the time being!!” and well,, it takes a few weeks of summer camp before changbin gets claimed and when he does…. It’s an absolute nightmare to say the least. Everyone is just so CONFUSED?? Like, Hades kids shouldn’t be a thing?? Wasn’t there that whole pact between the big three ?? Anyway,, this kinda causes people to stay away from changbin,,, bc damn that’s scary the third hades kid to appear in recent history is actually terrifying,,,, let’s just Zeus and Poseidon are raging upstairs lmaoooo. Poor changbin though,,, he had so many friends before he got claimed but they all kinda just left him,, apart from his lil crew of 8,,, yeah skz they don’t leave him behind. Bc they know he’s way more than being just a kid of Hades,,, like he’s so different from the typical moody, dark traits of Hades kids,,, pink sweaters, loves all things sweet, and ADORES HUGS. Like,,, a lot,,, which is good for skz because theyre so cuddly themselves but damnnn,,, dark scary changbin likes hugs?? He’s always clinging to felix or hyunjin and everyone’s just like,,, what. This makes people open up way more to changbin. Until it’s capture the flag time and changbin gets banned from summoning skeletons bc he sicced them on jisung once and well,,, yeah it wasn’t pretty. Oh,, changbin is like the strongest Hades kid who is not only good with his powers but like,,, he loves working out ?? everyone, including hades himself, just assumes he’s gonna stay a moody, thin kid like Nico or smth but no,,, short beefy changbin appears and he absolutely DECIMATES everyone including the ares kids in combat bc he’s just so,,, beefy….

hwang hyunjin- child of Hecate

So you’re probably all thinking,,, why not an Aphrodite kid?? Well that’s boring and overdone and I just think,,, witchy hyunjin. That’s all I want. Now hyunjin was sent to camp half blood by his dad bc quite frankly,, he was kinda terrified of what hyunjin might become without proper training so he sent him off with a promise from chiron to not reveal to hyunjin who is godly parent was,,, so there hyunjin was, standing around the cabins like,,, where do I fit in. Chan, being Chan, adopts hyunjin and they’re both just in the Hermes cabin. Hyunjin is kinda just,, a bit clueless bc he’s like,,, wow “Greek gods are real and im the son of one of them omg what if im like,,, the son of Poseidon or smth that would be so cool” and chan kinda just side eyes him bc like,,, chan knows he’s different and doesn’t fit with any of the cabins they have so. Anyways,, so as hyunjin only really goes to camp during the summer, by the time new cabins were built at camp half blood he was back at mortal school and when he comes back next summer,,, well he keeps being drawn to one cabin in particular…. You guessed it, it’s the Hecate cabin. He just stands there staring at it when he arrives until chan appears behind him to explain the new cabins and lets himself being dragged back to the Hermes cabin, not without sparing another look at the Hecate cabin. Hyunjin is fairly,,, okay at being at camp, he’s not the best archer or swordsperson, he’s okay at ancient Greek langauge, he does alright in his ancient Greek history classes but like,, he doesn’t fit in anywhere. All of his friends have been claimed by their godly parent and Hyunjin’s a bit bitter that his dad is either sending him to boarding school during term time and then to camp during the summer and still won’t tell him who is mum is like ?? yeah it’s bit frustrating bc he’s one of the oldest unclaimed kids and he’s just over it okay. One day in the middle of summer,,, everything changes. Hyunjin is just minding his own business as he’s cleaning up the archery area after practice when minho thinks it’s funny to see if hyunjin will notice if he shoots an arrow towards him,,, well,,, minho does this at the same time hyunjin whips around sensing something and theres an arrow flying towards him and he panics okay he doesn’t mean to stop it in midair it just happened and minho is just like,,, open mouthed staring at him like wtf. The arrow clatters to the ground after a tense few seconds and hyunjin just runs away to the only place that makes sense and it’s the Hecate cabin. It’s not until a few hours later when the boys decide to visit him that he sees another person, too busy being scared by what just happened and yeah, well as soon as the see him there’s a purple wheel above his head and he’s been officially claimed. Little things that had no explanation now suddenly do,,, it’s been hwang hyunjin all along.. (they keep it a secret from chiron and camp for a few hours as they comfort him but you know,,, chiron realises where everyone is pretty soon and he just smiles,, he knows hyunjin’s dad has nothing to fear anymore)

find part one HERE

[twilight-aus]

stray kids x camp half blood

so,,, i love stray kids. a lot. i also absolutely adore the percy jackson series,,, do you see where I’m going with this.... yeah so this is my take on where i think stray kids would be at camp half blood!! this is going to split into 4 different parts, with two boys on each post!! first up is chan and minho !!

Bang Chan- child of hermes

chan gives me big luke vibes except he doesn’t resent hermes that much (well a bit, but everyone resents their godly parent just a tiny bit). chan is the oldest kid at camp half blood and is the head of hermes cabin bc he just,,, exudes leadership qualities that he’s essentially chiron’s right hand man and helps him to organise all camp activites and timetables for everyone’s classes. chan’s been there for the longest as well, though he never divulges why he’s been there since he was like 5 years old. he’s the one that all the new kids look towards, especially the ones who haven’t been claimed by their godly parent just yet and when they do, he wishes them well and helps them pack all their stuff before leading them to their new cabin. “chan you’re just taking me to my new cabin please don’t cry it’s not that big of a deal” “oH iM SoRRy i RAiseD yoU sInCE yOu goT hERE?? you think im SCARED to cry nah these are manly tears i’ll cry enough to burst the dam,,, the hoover dam” “okay bye dad” “.... bye kid”. chan is also like,,, the best allrounder because quite frankly,, when you’ve been at camp as long as he has well,,, you get to practice a lot. he leads a lot of the sword practices, especially for the younger kids who just got there but y’all KNOW as soon as he gets an ares kid he just SIGHS and readies himself for how aggressive they’re gonna be, but he secretely relishes it bc,,, well 10 year olds are really boring to spar with. being a kid of hermes,, chan’s fast. like really fast. it’s not like superspeed or anything but it might as well be with how fast he just zips around and he’s also just really quiet when he moves around. Despite being a kid of the trickster god, he spends most of his time trying to stop his kids from pulling dangerous stunts and pranks on Mr D in particular,, tho if it’s funny,,, he might just turn a blind eye to it. so despite being the dad of the camp he has his own precious group of friends which surprises and also doesn’t surprise a lot of people bc he’s so friendly but like,,, a lot of the younger kids are shocked he’s so friendly with changbin and minho bc like,,, to the younger kids these older boys are scary but then they see chan tackle changbin to the ground in a bear hug and they’re like,,, okay damn I guess he really doesn’t care for the infighting between the gods bc they all get along so well ?? so yeah,, head camp councillor chan is just a big softie with a penchant for collecting kids and has a weird friendship group combined of people from different cabins that really shouldn’t work but it does. he loves them all tho.

 lee minho / lee know- child of apollo

oh yeah i’m going there. archer extraordinaire lee minho himself. got claimed by apollo when he was like 8 when he was playing with his friends and he threw something and it was definitely going to miss but guess what,,, it didnt. apollo was like,, alright damn that’s my son guess i ought to get him outta here. next thing he knew, minho was at camp half blood not quite understanding what was going on. chan took him around on his first day and as soon as he saw the archery setup he rushed over and well,,, perfect bullseye every single time that even the rest of the apollo kids were like,,, okay what. so yeah,, he’s the ace of archery but he’s so damn annoying about it?? like no matter how many times chiron has to ask him to teach the kids he’s always just like,,, no they’ll never be as good as me (he does help them eventually bc he’s actually a great teacher and chiron knows it,,, minho just doesn’t like teaching that much,,, but when he sees the younger kids hit a bullseye for the first time he’s so proud of them, especially when they’re not an apollo kid bc he’s just that good at teaching!) minho being naturally talented at archery did not translate well over to healing,,, felix is always makes fun of him bc minho is just so good at being an apollo kid but he really isn’t that good at healing (changbin likes to say it’s because minho is apathetic, he gets hit a lot for that). he,,,, just isn’t good at remembering how to do anything more complex than cleaning a wound and sticking a bandage on it but he is EXTREMELY good at distracting patients and helping the other apollo kids who are good at healing, like if you’ve got a broken leg or smth minho is sure as hell gonna make you laugh and forget about the pain!!! all the new kids are a bit confused when they see minho as the head of the apollo cabin bc they’re like,,, he’s so stoic and handsome,,, and then he pulls a funny face at the younger kids and wiggles his eyebrows and they’re like okay no that makes sense now. minho may seem unapproachable but he’s one of the funniest kids at camp especially among his little group and has even been known to make the Aphrodite kids blush with how handsome and goofy he is. mess with his little brother felix though??? you better sleep with both eyes open bc he might just take one of them out if you only keep one of them open. (you think he’s joking,, and he is,,,, maybe). oh, yeah and he owns three rescue cats that had wandered into the camp by accident. yes they sleep in the cabin with him. Do not question him. (chiron already did and the whole of camp outvoted him so yeah,, the kitties stay)

[twilight-aus]

Hello!

Hi and welcome to my new tumblr, twilight-aus! my name is ginny and im going to be using this tumblr to just write some kpop aus because i miss it!

this isnt the first time i’ve ever used tumblr to write aus, i used to run a semi-popular writing blog with another admin a few years ago and i realised just how much i missed it, especially with everything going on at the moment.. 

my favourite things to write are college aus so im going to be doing a series of college aus for my ult groups (and feel free to request anything, my inbox is always open!! i wont, however, be doing a college series for stray kids for the time being as i have already written ones for them on my old tumblr and i honestly don’t think ill be able to top that 😂

i hope anyone who finds this is having a good day and i look forward to posting my first writing soon!

much love, mira x