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mrultra100 · 1 year

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Ultra's End-of-Year Recap: Electric Boogaloo

Given how little I think of just how much more insane things can get with each passing year, I really wasn’t expecting how my blog was gonna go in 2022, but after joining an ask blog (Kudos to @another-silly-mixels-blog ), now having little more than 80 followers on here, being a major player in spreading the good word on what’s basically the biggest event in paleomedia in the last few years, and my writing and art skills getting significantly better this year…

I should really give these things more thought, huh? Regardless, I should still celebrate all of the good that came tumbling towards this silly blog of mine. Just like last year, I’m capping off ‘22 with a special ‘lil recap of the biggest events to happen to the Ultra Barrier Reef (And that’s a far better name than what this blog was named originally). Seriously, alot has happened this year, and I really couldn’t be more thankful for all of the support I’ve gotten over the years, both from fans and close friends of mine. You are all amazing! I know I said something like it last time (Maybe?), but consider this my early Christmas present, from me to you.

I posted 1,622 times in 2022

209 posts created (13%)

1,413 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mrultra100 (That's me!)

@bogleech

@master-of-gaburincho

@marinebiologyfacts

@thesketchyside

I tagged 1,027 of my posts in 2022

Only 37% of my posts had no tags

#ultra ramblings - 243 posts (Again, I had alot of stupid things to say this year)

#pokemon - 234 posts (Since TWO mainline games came out in the same year, this tag was bound to increase, more than usual)

#prehistoric planet - 140 posts (Anyone remember Alien Worlds? I don't, so watch PHP instead. Make Hank proud)

#pokemon scarlet and violet - 119 posts (Are these games fairly buggy? Yes, yes they are. That still isn't gonna stop me from enjoying what's basically Sun and Moon, but ramped up to 11)

#halloween - 119 posts (Still 2Spooky4U)

#ultra-ween - 116 posts (This was the first time since 2019 that I partook in a monthly drawing challenge. One hell of a trip, lemme tell ya)

#bugsnax - 89 posts (While not as big as all of the Pokemon stuff, the Bigsnax DLC sure did help this one grow a bit)

#my artz - 88 posts (Probably my biggest achievement this year; My art has gotten BETTER)

#johnny test - 60 posts (I'm pretty sure that the 2021 revival is now dead in the water, no thanks to Netflix's legal fucknuttery. Sure as hell ain't gonna stop me from getting ideas for my own hypothetical reboot. Also, there sure were alot of V-Marys tossed around)

#mixels - 56 posts (Part of it involved me joining an ask blog dedicated to this show. It's as fun as it sounds)

Longest Tag: 101 characters

#give me a cinderella stuffing her face with food and a feral fairy godmother who contemplated murder!

My Top Posts in 2022:

When people are making so much fanart and memes of your show, it gets slingshotted into the spotlight, you know you’ve made it as a spiritual successor to one of the biggest cornerstones of paleomedia.

Also, Ken Ham can cry me a river.

177 notes - Posted May 29, 2022

It still boggles my mind that, of all things to happen this year, we got femboy pterosaurs. I'm all here for it, especially if it makes out-of-touch creationists drown in their own tears. Ken Ham must've made a whole ocean of them at this point.

Managed to snag one of the 15 second teasers!

211 notes - Posted May 19, 2022

I understand that this was posted during the PHP hype train, but how did this blew up? Not that I'm complaining or anything, I'm just curious.

"It is a lovely morning in Late Cretaceous Mongolia, and you are a horrible Deinocheirus"

240 notes - Posted March 2, 2022

Of all the many pieces that I made over the course of the year, this might just be my crowning jewel.

CHINCHOU (Unovan Form)

Angler Pokemon

Electric/Ghost

Ability: Shadow Tag/Lightning Rod- Prankster (HA)

“First found within the Unovan abyss, this variant of Chinchou has evolved more bioluminescent lures to attract prey. Not only can these lights attract prey, they leave them in a daze, as if they’re under a trance. When its prey gets close enough, Unovan Chinchou delivers a powerful discharge that stuns them. It’s said that the main source of Unovan Chinchou’s bioluminescence is souls, preferably, the souls of its prey.”

STOMIGHTURN

Abyssal Lure Pokemon

Electric/Ghost

Ability: Shadow Tag/Lightning Rod- Prankster (HA)

“Due to the extreme circumstances of the deep sea, along with competition from other Pokemon, the Chinchou of the Unova region evolve into Stomighturn. Having grown in size, Stomighturn uses the same hunting techniques as its previously-evolved form, only with much more bioluminescent lures. Along with a long barbel that hangs from its lower jaw, parts of Stomighturn’s own skeleton now appear on the creature’s hide, being charged with 1.21 gigawatts of ghastly electricity. This strange beast now requires living prey, as it’s been known to swallow them whole, both their body and soul, with its elastic stomach being capable of trapping prey. This species was first discovered when scientists came across one while testing a bathysphere”

Unovan Chinchou evolves into Stomighturn when at level 27

After seeing @bogleech talking about how Chinchou was a better design than Lanturn, I decided to make a regional form for the lil’ guy, along with adding a new evolution that does both the it and the creatures that it’s based on justice.

258 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

How can you screw up making a deep-sea fish? Some chump at GameFreak somehow messed it up when they made Lanturn a thing, so I just had to do my own take on it.

My #1 post of 2022

ALL ABOARD THE PP HYPE TRAIN!

513 notes - Posted April 22, 2022

If I can be honest with myself, this whole was my Prehistoric Planet Arc. It basically was for alot of people, let's not kid ourselves.

At the end of the day, this was one of the biggest years for the Ultra Barrier Reef. Given that the blog is turning 5 next year, who knows what's gonna happen next? Well, that's the fun part. Down in these shitpost-infested waters, you never know what surprises could bubble up to the surface.

Speaking of surprises, I got an extra-special piece coming up to cap the year off. While you should expect to see that in the next few days, things are gonna be a bit slower for the rest of the year (Mainly due to me taking some time off.).

With all of that said, thank you all so much for the continued support, and I'll be rising back up from the depths next year. Happy Holidays, folks!

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #ultra ramblings

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darkarfs · 4 years

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My 10 Favorite WWE Matches of All Time (updated)

10: The 2001 Royal Rumble No matter how daft and stupid the product gets, I will never not stoke my head in around January. The Royal Rumble is my favorite match, but this one is my favorite favorite instance of that match. The pacing, the beautiful endurance of Kane, the hardcore interval (which Kane just decides to destroy), the Big Show returning after 4 months just to get shit-canned a minute into his run. There is so much to love about this mess. The preview of Rock and Austin that year for their Wrestlemania showdown. The fact that 4 or 5 of them (Rock, Austin, Kane, Undertaker, even Rikishi) could have been main event contenders. The best midcard in WWE history. Scotty 2 Hotty having the worst night of his life. Drew Carey just showing up. Bradshaw just cliffing everyone, because he's gotta get his shit in. Good Rumbles are like a 3 course meal, and this one is like all your courses at once, and then dessert is a treat you could die on. 9. Tyler Bate vs. WALTER - Takeover Cardiff Crowds make a lot of matches for me (thanks, 2020) but this crowd is especially electric, and for 24-year-old Tyler Bate, who is taking on a TANK, and that tank's name is WALTER, a TANK. But I will never not be a sucker for a David vs. Goliath story, and it was never better told than the boy made of thighs vs. the destroyer made of shattering palms. It is SO CARNY, so many feats of strength, so many OOOOOFS AND UUUUUURGHS that make this so great. Tyler was a hero on this night, but everyone knew he wasn't ready to win. Every feat is a magnificent reach. And it all means something to everyone. Make them what they know SHOULD happen and still surprise them with it. His "refusing to quit!" only to get shut down by a fucking chop. HE STANDS but is immediately ruined. It makes me. This shit fucking makes me. 8. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley, 30-Minute Iron Woman Match - Takeover Respect Most of this is just a remix of their epic and warranted classic in Brooklyn. but then Sasha takes the headband off of Izzy. And then they both stepped it up and were *amazing*. We somehow lost Bayley's "RAAAAAH'S and that's sad for me. But then they RAMP IT UP. NOBODY LIKES YOU. FUCK YOU. WE'RE HAPPIER NOW. (WE'RE NOT.) But seriously, Sasha taking Izzy's headband and then THROWING IT AT HER started something special, something grand. THE OUTRAGE. The bastion of heel heat. And then the match got better. They hugged at the end of their encounter in Brooklyn, but then they started poisoning one another. And it all started with this amazing match. (Also, Bayley's amazing red and gold robot tights.) 7. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels, Wrestlemania 21 Listen. HBK's 'Mania outings with the Undertaker are solid "match of the decade" contenders, piss-easy. They are peerless, they are in a league of their own. But saying they're your favorite? Unless you are an actual wrestler, that's like saying "UH, MY FAVE BAND IS THE BEATLES." Ya boring, ya basic, and we can all do better. And seeing how I'm in my late 30s, I understand wrestling a little different than I did when I made this list in...2016??? Christ. I bet AJ Styles vs. John Cena was on it that year. Two of the best performers, both in their prime, and looking back on it, I just prefer the mix of character dynamics at play. Angle is easily one of the best in the world, but he has such an inferiority complex, because he's an Olympic gold medalist who is told *nightly* that he sucks, and he CAN'T best Michaels. He keeps coming back, and he's so charming, so effortlessly good at this whole "wrestling" thing, and it's slowly making Angle, who SHOULD be all of those things, absolutely *spare.* And that informs so many spots and story moments in the match itself, specifically when Angle LOSES it and starts shouting at him, only to have a superkick partied under his face. Angle is one of the best ever because his wrestling acumen served his character, never once defined it. 6. Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon, Wrestlemania 17 I haven't gone back to watch the whole of Vince vs. Shane THAT many times. What I have done is watch the finish about 65 times. There is something so addictive and magical about that one pop, when Linda stands up from her chair, and the ENTIRE crowd stands with her. And I'll 100% agree that Vince's comeuppance - one slap, one hoof to the balls, a Mandible Claw and a Coast-To-Coast dropkick - is not NEAR the actual comeuppance he should have gotten for some of the deplorable shit his character got up to from around the Rumble to this match (two of which they've done their very best to scrub from history, they're THAT bad.) But it's the purest example I can think of, of that pantomime aspect of wrestling. Vince McMahon is a deranged bastard. He likes dumb, cruel, crude things, but his commitment to being the world's 2nd-worst lizard man makes some of the stuff that happens to him more richly rewarding than almost any retribution in any medium, ever. The final 4 minutes of that match, the crowd is a fireworks display. They rise, they explode, they rise and explode, over and over. And again, shoutout to my boy 2020 for making me miss a crowd THAT big having THAT good a time. 5. Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano - 2 out of 3 falls - TakeOver New York Now look, I'm not saying that NXT is essentially perfect for me, in terms for what I look for in wrestling. What I will say is that when it cooks, it combines the very best of indie stamina, choreography and stunt work with something WWE sometimes gets VERY right, and that is unabashed, unironic emotion. And it's not even that the intimacy of NXT being a smaller promotion has a denser, more specifically passionate fanbase. It's just the fact that NXT understands that so often, nuance and drama in wrestling doesn't come from promos, or swerves, or endless escalations of said drama, but from getting the FUCK out of the way and letting two of the best in the world *wrestle.* NXT is so good for providing context for the acts of jealousy, pride and entitlement, and then laying out a match that touches on all of these emotions throughout. This main event, built in two weeks, after a terribly-timed Ciampa injury, is actually VERRRY clever booking...disguised to look really simple. Cole starts the match as the crowd favorite, because he's the cool tweener everyone likes (with a catchphrase) to Gargano's unironic Disney prince. Over the course of Cole going all out, making subtle references to Johnny's feud with Ciampa, Gargano fighting from underneath, total fuck-off bastardry from the Undisputed Era (making poor Mauro Ranallo yell "YOU SNAKES!!") Maybe Cole WAS the better choice, but by the end of it, you didn't care. On that night, Johnny refused to lose, and the constant, exciting, *involving* wrestling dragged you to that emotional place. Damn right, you deserve it. 4. CM Punk vs. John Cena, Money In the Bank 2011 It might be a simple choice, but also, sometimes, it's really really gratifying to see a crowd who wants something get what they fucking want for once. A hot crowd makes a good match great, and a great match THIS. A crowd united, either for one guy, and against another, and in this case, BOTH. It makes every. Move. Matter. Trying to find a new angle on this match is like trying to find a new way to say fire is warm. And this crowd created a CAUSE. The no-sold pinfall, the attempted rehash of the Screwjob. Point out the botches if you must. The angle, the promo...it got my friends back into wrestling, a reason to care until the Shield. It's not the best, but it deserves to be. There is no wrestling crowd I wish I was more a part of. And I was at King of the Ring 1998. 3. Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar, 60-Minute Iron Man match, Smackdown of September 18, 2003 It MAYBE was a bit of a "hipster" choice to name this my number 1 in 2016. But you know what? Bloody holds up. Two performers who feel "destined to do this forever," like a Triple H/Shawn Michaels, or a Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn. Possessed of freakish physical charisma, could go for days if pressed. Brock Lesnar, literally at the time ONE OF THE BEST ATHLETES in the WORLD being a lazy fucker and taking DQ points, laying the foundation of what Brock Lesnar would come to be known as. And Angle, in that rare position of everyone knowing he's the best thing going. Brilliant Lazy Asshole Brock and Certified Wrestling Machine Angle are two of my unironic favorite characters in all of wrestling, and it's a buffet of THAT. Like a Royal Rumble, only it's just two dudes, being the best they've ever been. 2. DIY vs. the Revival - 2 out of 3 falls - TakeOver Toronto "Tag team wrestling?" says main roster WWE. "What is this...tag team wrestling?" Well, this is it, at its absolute best. It's up there with Rey Mysterio and Edge vs. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle from No Mercy 2002 for just brilliant, rock-solid tag team psychology. There are more story opportunities when there are more rules to break, how can WWE *not get behind that?* In terms of chemistry, both between opponents and between teams, in terms of callbacks like Johnny muscling through the exact same inverted figure four that lost them the belts in Brooklyn. It is a perfect match. Not an ounce of fat on it. And that closing sequence, of each member of DIY locking the Revival in their signature holds, and the men now known as FTR clinging to one another. It's probably the best tag match in the history of the WWE, and considering the caliber of tag matches on TakeOvers, is FUCKING saying something. 1. Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar, Survivor Series 2018 This match is everything I always hoped for. For the longest time, after the 2015 Royal Rumble debacle, when Reigns won, when simply everything we knew about storytelling said "no, of course it should be Bryan," I wondered what that 'Mania match would look like. If it were anything like this, I would have died a happy man. But then again, what makes this match so GOOD is that Bryan had just come back from an early retirement caused by head and neck surgery, and here he is, being dropped on his head and neck by Brock Fucking Lesnar, aka what would happen if the concept of "not giving a shit" gained corporeal form and starting shilling for Jimmy John's. The match gets really ugly, really fast, and Bryan takes us to uncomfortable places with his selling. It wasn't just the retirement angle, it was also the fact that Brock had turned out some REALLY lazy shit by that point in his career, so we had all mentally prepared for another finish-spamming early night. And then. AND THEN... Bryan hoofs him in the walnuts, hits the running knee, gives us the absolute closest 2-count of the decade, and then the fight is fucking on. Bryan went, over the course of 2 minutes, from never having a chance against Brock Lesnar to it being an *absolute certainty* that he was going to BEAT BROCK LESNAR. Anytime you visibly leave your seat every few seconds during a match, you know it's a special one. Again, it took me away, had me absolutely *screaming* at my monitor, elated, invested, and I don't know what more your favorite match can ask of you. But what happens when your favorite match isn't a match at all? No. 0: The Firefly Funhouse - Wrestlemania 36 I'm not kidding, it actually might be my favorite thing. It could be just my brain latching onto the Cult of the New, but I don't think so. It's not a match, I get it. It exists in a weird null-void outside of time and space, but mostly I am floored that they would broadcast something so virulently anti-WWE. Like, we talk of CM Punk and how WWE let him get away with all his little jokes and cut his little Pipebomb promo. But then WWE signed off on Bray Wyatt tearing the soul out of their business. Burying the biggest star of this generation, skewering and laying bare all of terrible WWE's terrible priorities, and also celebrating insider knowledge, wrestling history, and I just...love it. Right now, it's my favorite thing WWE have ever put out, because it did something they've never done before, told a story I didn't think they were capable of telling. And sure, it was Bray who told it, but I still can't believe it aired. But I am endlessly thankful that it did.

#wwe #favorite matches #long post

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binary-colour · 5 years

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Falsettos UK time

So I just went to see the UK production of Falsettos last night and kind of wanted to word vomit all my thoughts and key parts of it onto a post so that I can preserve the amazingness in my mind for as long as possible.

Basically, I’ve been obsessed with this show for a while now and it lived up to every expectation possible. The cast were incredible, the singing was outstanding and my mum sobbed solidly through the second act.

FYI - we had the male cover Matthew McKenna as Whizzer (I was a bit worried at first but he was incredible)

This is v v long so read at own risk ig. Also, spoilers!

Four Jews was portraying Jason’s birth (like, the ‘slavery’ was Trina going into labour). It worked really well actually, especially for people who had no idea what the show was about (ie 90% of the audience lmao) It was also Trina in it more than Jason, but there was this hilarious bit when they did the ‘I’m Mendel!’ etc. section and Trina went ‘I’m-‘ and got cut off Also Whizzer piggybacked Jason, my heart

Tight Knit Family - as you’d expect I guess, Daniel’s voice was 👌 Also Marvin did ‘friend’ in airquotes and Whizzer did this mega eye roll lmao

Love is Blind - I guess there wasn’t much else different, just that they all stood in the photo frames when Trina sung about them which was a v nice touch ¯\_(ツ)_/

Thrill of First Love - Whizzer was,, a lot more argumentative than I expected I guess? Like, almost a bit aggressive? But overall it was great, they were so snarky and less sexual than the revival (which my asexual ass didn’t mind) apart from one reaaaach. They also had v good chemistry to say it wasn’t Oliver performing.

Marvin At The Psychiatrist - the staging was pretty similar to revival. Whizzer was watching from the top and he made all these offended faces when Marvin and Mendel were talking about him (when they said he was ‘smarmy’ he did this Offended Gay expression it was great). Then Trina started unbuttoning her shirt in Pt. 2 and Mendel got really flustered, it was wild. Everyone was dying from laughter. Also, ‘it’s queer Mr Marvin… sorry, it’s strange Mr Marvin’ deserves its own shoutout

My Father’s A Homo/Everyone Tells Jason to See A Psychiatrist - Elliot is a star, what more can I say. His voice is soo good as well. When Whizzer arrived Trina and him did this 😒 face at each other.

I’m Breaking Down - I thought no-one could come close to Stephanie’s iconic performance in the revival, but Laura rocked it. She was setting the table for Mendel coming, and it had this mega chaotic energy where she threw the bananas around and screamed ‘shIT’ when they fell onto the floor. For the ‘fulfill his needs’ bit she really aggressively ripped the top of the banana off and peeled it lmao. Also, she was drinking from the wine bottle for one of the choruses and humming, it was amazing.

Jason’s Therapy - Jason was definitely the most mature one in this scene haha. After Mendel did his first dance sequence, Jason just put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and sighed before he said the ‘is this therapy?’ bit. Marvin and Trina sat drinking at the side of the stage the whole time lmao. When it was the second ‘is this therapy?’ line, they both held up their glasses for the ‘yES!’. Also, for the final bit Marvin, Trina and Whizzer all came on singing into glasses and slapping their legs with plates lmao.

Marriage proposal - I saw a few people saying that this was a bit ~creepy~ rather than cute, and I guess I see what they mean? But they didn’t do the weird vampire wrist grab like the revival, so I guess that’s a plus. Trina was very confused the whole time, bless her, and for the ‘start to cry’ she was like ‘I’m not??’ and then Mendel starting blubbering. Plus, Jason sang the ‘biblical times?’ first one rather than Trina, and Marvin did this Super Sassy ‘bIbLiCaL tImEs’ that was hilarious.

Trina’s Song/March of the Falsettos - This was staged as a nightmare sequence, which brought some sense to the madness of MoTF. Like, when she woke up she continued with the song, it worked really well. I also really liked that they reenacted the wedding scene from 4 Jews as part of it, it really showed Trina’s fear that something bad would happen again.

The Chess Game - Wow, this was... intense. Whizzer was super snarky, so Marvin got mad at him pretty quickly. It was so funny though, especially when it was Whizzer saying the ‘move a pawn’ bit and he sat in his chair like Marvin and acted all stern. Marvin was drinking solidly, so when Whizzer ‘won’ and knocked over a ton of pieces he lobbed the board off stage and hit a few things. Whizzer backed off pretty quick looking scared and Marvin was apologetic until the ‘Whizzer’s supposed to make the dinner’ bit, when he got Whizzer’s suitcase and packed it for him on stage before throwing it at him. Also, the ‘this had better come to a stop’ was targeted at the liquor bottle.

Making a home – Mendel came on with only a house plant and it got kicked out of the house anyway lmao I relate. The dog bit Jason’s chessboard rip.

The Games I Play – this was performed so well my mum almost cried. It was much softer than any other version I’ve heard and more… spoken? But the notes at the end were belted and spot on, but he still had the slight tremor like he was tearing up. Your heart really went out for Whizzer, especially as the Motel projected on the screens on his side were mirrored by the homely ones on the other.

Marvin Hits Trina – Marvin didn’t tear up the invitation but he did hit a lot of stuff. Mendel also seemed a lot less angry at him when Marvin first came in then the revival – I guess Marvin was somewhat drunk in this. He also looked MAD at Whizzer whenever he sang his bits, apart from when Whizzer chokes up a bit when he says he doesn’t love him, and you see Marvin falter a bit then before he shouts at everyone. The lights went red when he hit Trina, which really added to the effect (although they were a bit late whoops)

I Never Wanted to Love You – Jason was crying and hugging Trina after Marvin hit her, and Mendel came and surrounded them in this big ~protective dad~ way. Marvin looked genuinely sorry as well, which was nice I guess.

Father to Son – The staging of this was really simple – they were just sat on the floor centre stage face-to-face. But it was so heartfelt, and Marvin looked like he was going to cry for most of it. And at first, Jason was a bit hesitant to hug him after what happened before, but you could see how relieved Marvin was when he did.

Falsettoland – Mendel pointed at the audience for the ‘homosexuals’ and ‘mother with children’ lmao. The tiny band was the wedding ring too. Whizzer was introduced back on with ‘homosexual’ and he did this offended ‘really’ gesture it was great. No Nancy Reagan punchbag unfortunately, but the lesbians came on holding signs saying Love Is Love <3. Marvin and Trina seemed a lot more friendly in this too, which was a nice touch!

Year of the Child – Mendel was Too Scared to really disrupt the arguments haha. Trina was fierce, Marvin suggested the caterers really sheepishly and she basically bit his head off it was hilarious. And when the lesbians arrived with the food, she literally said off-mic ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ to Marvin. At the end, Jason ran off because they were all too ~excited~ and the last part of the song was spent looking for him lmao.

Miracle of Judaism – ‘Jo… what’s the name of that bitch?’ im dead

Baseball Game – Jason had a pretty good swing before Whizzer even arrived to be honest. The lesbians fully got up and yelled at the umpire it was great. Mendel got up to sing his bit, and Marvin and Trina just sort of led him to sit back down and apologised offstage. Whizzer kept teasing Marvin back about the hairline comments, and Marvin just mournfully rubbed his head like ‘I know.’ It was hilarious.

A Day in Falsettoland – Charlotte and Cordelia were the patients and they were both amazing. Mendel wasn’t even sorry about the name. Charlotte literally spat the food back onto Cordelia’s plate, she didn’t even hide it lmao. ‘Maybe in a mile I’ll be okay.’ ‘a mILE?’ Same Mendel. Also, Trina runs with weights? Raquetball worked really well to say there was such little space on stage. It was nice to see the softer side to Marvin and Whizzer’s relationship, the occasional kisses throughout the game.

Everyone Hates His Parents – it was pretty similar to the revival, except Mendel and Jason both did a mega cartwheel?! I was shocked, it was perfect. Also, Trina cried ‘you’re killing me!’ to Jason after he said he didn’t want the bar mitzvah, which made the ‘kill you mother’ verse a bit more understandable lmao. Also, Trina kept giving Marvin these ‘seriously?’ looks during that whole song.

What More Can I Say - this was so sweet, so Domestic. Marvin was like this happy puppy. Whizzer basically fell asleep reading, and Marvin was taking his glasses off and putting the book aside, it was v sweet

Something Bad is Happening - lovely singing from the lesbians, extra runs! They were So Good together. When Whizzer collapsed (it was a proper keel over too), Marvin lifted his head and shoulders into lap and sang it straight to him. It was v sweet and sad, Whizzer was crying and apologising to him :’(

Holding to the Ground - this is such a beautiful song, and Laura sounded incredible. They were setting up the set behind her, but there were sirens and a heart monitor came on when they helped Whizzer into the hospital bed.

Days like this - Marvin brought this awful cheesy card, and Whizzer just held it up to the audience like ‘what’. But he kept reading the on Trina and Mendel brought and showing it to Marvin. The Whizzer/Trina solidarity was v sweet, he kissed her cheek and things when they arrived.

Cancelling the Bar Mitzvah - Jason started properly crying into Trina who cried as well. It was so raw and emotional, you really felt their fear for what is happening. My only qualm was that they cut part out?? It’s one of my favourite lines, when Mendel sings the ‘becoming a man’ bit :s

Four Unlikely Lovers - now this was heartbreaking. Marvin went and cried at the end of the hospital bed at the beginning, and he sobbed at Whizzer’s ‘our bed’. They were really sweet though, always kissing foreheads or holding hands and things - I don’t think they let go all song. Cordelia and Charlotte also came in holding hands <3

Side note! Whizzer seemed in a lot more pain in this!! Which made me really sad

Something Bad (reprise) - Jason was watching Charlotte sing it instead of Marvin, I guess it was almost like her preparing him for what was going to happen to his Dad too?!

You Gotta Die Sometime - this was sooo well sung, it was pretty soft and then he started breaking down at end instead of belting the note :’’( Until Jason came in and he was like ‘um where’s your parents??’

Jason’s Bar Mitzvah - it had such a nice tight-knit ( ;) ) feeling to it which was really bittersweet. Mendel came in hiding balloons v unsuccessfully behind his back. The took the photo again, which was great (although not bitter they didn’t use the camera effect in that for the line in Everyone Tells Jason to See A Psychiatrist or anything). When Jason sung the prayer, he waved away the book and stood on table v proud. Then Jason sort of beckoned Whizzer over, which made him collapse onto the floor and Jason was taken off screaming for him. It was heartbreaking.

What Would I Do - the one that finally broke me. It was so so sad, Whizzer was still alive collapsed in bed so they sung it to each other and held held hands until he flatlined at end. On stage. My God.

At the end, the rest of the family all crowded around the bed and surrounded Marvin (who was properly sobbing). Mendel blew the candle that had been lit for the Bar Mitzvah out, and the photo they took came up on screen.

So, conclusion, see this show NOW before it ends its ridiculously short run. Honestly. You won’t regret a penny.

#will probably delete later #please excuse the cringy writing of this and the probable bad grammar #it's very late and i'm very very tires #*tired #*sigh*#falsettos #falsettos uk #west end #musical #musicals

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wolfthebard · 5 years

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War of the Spark: Mythic Review

Greetings and salutations peeps. This week, many Magic the Gathering players will get to experience that joys that is Pre-release: War of the Spark. This set has 36 Planeswalkers, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff. As a Commander player, I’m excited. So I’m going to list my thoughts and such on the Mythics, Rares, and Uncommons (with a handful of commons). This will be broken into multiple parts. Also, these thoughts for these cards are strictly on how they impact the Commander format. Today, we’ll be looking at the 15 Mythic cards of the set! Without further wait.

Ok, so this is not Green Sun’s Zenith. Zenith gives us ramp in the form of Dryad Arbor, this doesn’t. Now, this has a built in finisher. To pay 10, search a Craterhoof. Well one that’s magical holiday land, but it’s an almost guaranteed end for most players. I’d consider this a alt-second copy for Zenith, and it should find a home in many creature based decks.

I was going to end it here for this, but there’s more. This also reanimates. This is green reanimation. So this finds a home and is a great way for mono green decks to revive a Craterhoof, or something else. More applications, means more decks can play it. Rating 4/5: Not the first choice for many decks, but has a small tool box that we can use.

Ok, so this card is alright. It’s a 12 mana, significantly worse Rise of the Dark Realms. While the Green Finale is a worse Zenith, it does something more. Eternity here is a worse removal spell, and unlike Realms, it only gets your creatures back from the grave. Mono black has better answers for both targeted and board removal. I don’t see too many decks needing this. Rating 2/5. There are better options for everything this card wants to do, but if your play group doesn’t have a lot of graveyard hate, and plays low curve creatures. Maybe use this? I’d pick up a foil one, cause the art is sweet.

Oh my, this is a Decree of Justice call back. In tokens this card is great, also paying ten nets you a total of 60 power. Also, if you’re playing a competitive tokens deck, it’ll probably net you more. Paying 10 isn’t a replacement...it adds! Not much more to say, card is great for late game, and in tokens. Rating 5/5: Good card is good. Flavor text depicts the fear your opponents will feel. While this could have been an instant, I think it’s still a great card.

Man, red I think got one of the crazier cards here. The and/or clause is great. Just by paying 2, you can get a total value of (4) mana. Getting to ten, which is easy for Izzet decks, heck even mono-red decks. Allowing us to copy those spells twice is nuts. This is a real finisher, and if it resolves, you can probably K.O someone, if not the entire group. Yes, those spells go into exile, but we have cards like Ral, Izzet Viceroy can still utilize them. Rating 5/5. This is what finishers should look like. That and/or clause, it’s what makes this card good. Any spell heavy deck is going to love this card.

The last Finale. A blue, sorcery-speed draw spell. Ok, so the x makes this card cost 7, not 12. Yes, we draw 10 cards, shuffle our graveyard, and have no max hand size. I think this card is good, but we have cards like Blue Sun’s Zenith, Sphinx’s Rev, all are instant-speed, with Rev gaining us life. I feel like decks that take a lot of turns will like this card, just for the no max hand size. It’s just a bit too slow. Still, it will see play in blue decks. Rating: 3/5. While there are practical uses, there are still so many better options that can stall games, save yourself, or instant-speed. Not a bad card, but with the other options in the same budget, I’d go to those first.

First Planeswalker! Gideon deserves to be honored! Ok, reviews...breathe... 3 mana, 4/4 that can’t die on your turn, good. The fact his +1 allows us indestructible is a great trick. Yes, lifelink and vigilance is great, but I like swinging in with a big buff creature that can’t die. The -6 is nuts. Yes it takes three turns to get there, but this answers so many things; Eldrazi and other planeswalkers we don’t want to see. Rating 4/5. He’s not the best White Walker, but he has his uses. Budget voltron decks can use this, and the +1 allows us to work within a frame of getting some damage in...or you know, protecting our Commander, if only on our turn.

Pick a God and Pray! We got beef with our 5/6 with Menace. Token decks playing black...you have a new toy to draw things. Mono black decks have a card that lets them get around pacified creatures, and artifacts that they may not need anymore. As a general, it’s kinda neat that Bontu never dies really. I’d rather play Bontu in the 99, as a general it can cause people to focus their removal on us, which leads to feel bad moments. Rating 4/5: Black has a lot of draw and sac outlets, Bontu is the best of both worlds, as a general they’re a bit slow. They shine in Aristocrat decks and the like. The reasoning for not a perfect score is, it doesn’t just end the game.

This bird gives you the word. Ok, I need to point out this is like giving everything in your deck Miracle...it’s going to be annoying that your opponent has to pause draw like a character in Yu-gi-oh, so they don’t miss a trigger and or seem like they’re cheating. I love this card. So you don’t play the card, you just show it off, and pay two less. Now I am assuming that if you draw on your opponents turn, and draw a sorcery you can still cast it on their turn. I think I’m reading that right. Still the fact you can reduce the cost, keep the drawn card. This card is a great mono-blue general, or in the 99 of spell heavy decks (Niv has a friend!) The big body on this bird means it’s not going down easy. Rating 5/5. This card enables finishers, allows combo decks to go off early, and it’s “build around me” ability makes this a great general.

This is what Pusheen prays to. Creature based white decks, Heliod is a false prophet. Oketra is the God you’re looking for. Ok, it does 6 damage cause of Double strike. Cool, as a general this card is ok, but the ability to make 4/4s with vigilance is nuts. Those late game early drop creatures now pack a punch. Not much to say. You play creatures? You want more creatures? Go pet this cat...or offer it up the sparks of an Elder Dragon? Rating 5/5 Great general, great in the 99. Go for that voltron theme for whatever reason cause Oketra has double strike, or just play a bunch of low curve creatures to give you a big field.

Hello Rhonas, how are you doing? Ok, I wish it gave trample over vigilance, but I mean. It just doubles everything...and those things probably have Trample already. This is like the Green Finale. It might just be the end game right here. Rating 4/5. If it gave trample, it would be perfect. As it stands, it’s still a great finisher. I’d probably just play them in the 99. Great finisher, if you’re looking to remove things like Over-run....or just put it in an infect heavy deck...That’s just evil.

Boar God! Ok, this here is a general. Like the other Gods, if it dies somehow, it goes to the deck. Putting out free creatures will never not be good. also 6/6 trample for five mana is amazing value. Mono-red decks, you got a good general. Any creature heavy deck that plays red. Find room for this Boar. Think of all the fun stuff you can do....like just ending the turn...you know..to keep the creature. If you want other fun stuff. Cards like Panharmonicon is going to be great with all the ETB effects. Games can end quick with Illharg. Listen, this little piggy doesn’t even need to be your commander. Playing Nikya, and just don’t feel like tapping mana? BAM! Pig~ Playing Narset? BAM! Pig~ Enjoying getting them dummy thicc creatures out on the field. Rating 5/5: Where’s the Beef? It’s right here~

Bitch, I lived~ 6 mana is ok for a 6 loyality walker. Her triggered ability is amazing. We’re in the color of sacrificing our own creatures. She has two forms of built in protection, and while her Ult takes four turns to set up, it’s worth it. This is a more fair Karn Ult, and if we get there, oh boy did something bad happen. As a general (because Planeswalkers should be generals). She’s solid. With the right cards we can get her out by turn three. Even on curve, she does everything we would want. As the 99, I do miss the ability to search for a card and the discard, but gaining board presence and drawing cards is solid. Rating 5/5. She fits into so many decks. From mono black, to Golgari midrange, to anything that has creatures. Liliana shines so bright.

The big bad is here. You ready? Five mana for a 4 loyality walker is ok. The static ability to have all Planeswalker abilities is great. Noting, this goes for your opponents walkers too! Yes, there’s a build around me superfriends vibe Bolas is giving off, but, let’s break him down. His first ability is ok. The exile clause can mess with our opponents, but in Commander, we’ll lose a land and not be hurting. His second allows us to get rid of pesky cards. While not hitting artifacts or enchantments is kinda meh, it can still get rid of immediate threats. His ult is game winning, no seriously it’s in the text. I love effects that punish players for not playing their commander. Yes, this takes 5 turns (depending on if you don’t have a +2 walker out on the field). So this gives your opponents time to bring out their Commander, but Bolas is an immediate threat. Having the two of the same ability is great. Double Jace? How about Double Liliana of the Veil? Grixis walkers can really be a thing. As a general, this is flavorful. In the 99, and in the right build. This is a toolbox. Rating 4/5. Really needs supporting walkers to make Him a “God”, but still a solid card.

Reborn into what exactly? Ok, This really is a “Build” around me general. If we’re talking generals, Scion of the Ur-Dragon is the boss. Niv-Reborn can do some cool stuff, and the flavor of caring about the guilds is great. Even in the 99, I can’t see why you’d put him in a five color deck. Most already have better tutors/draw/etc. Niv is ok, but not really the “boss” we’re looking for in a general. Though I’ll admit, I’m going to brew him. Rating: 2/5 Requires a heavy build around them, that doesn’t net you a winning advantage. Art is sick, and the foil will look amazing.

It’s a bird! It’s a Human! It’s uh...cool looking? Roalesk is a neat little card. a 4/5 for 5 is solid stats for a Commander, and evasion and trample is great. The ETB to pump your guys is great and fits into already solid strategies. Ok, and when he dies you get an effect. Hm...if we send Roalesk to the Command Zone, we won’t get that effect. But, in the 99, and with a whole bunch of “Counters Matter”, this is amazing. Teaming up with Rishkar can generate a lot of mana. Also Atraxa has a new friend with all her walkers. Seriously, this set gave Atraxa so much. Rating: 4/5 A solid card in the 99, and an ok general. Has many applications, and can win games of their LTB trigger. Overall War of the Spark has some great Mythics, that help established decks and may diversify for some new ones. With a total of three lack luster ones, this set is gonna hold value. Thanks for reading. In the next article, we’ll be focusing on the rares of this set! See you then!

#mtg #magic the gathering #war of the spark #mtgwar #mtg discussion #spoilers #edh #commander

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cosmotoiper · 6 years

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My First Real Post on Something

You know, I’ve never posted my own thoughts or really anything on here yet. So I might as well start now. Since I’d been looking at lots of dinosaur stuff as of late I decided that I need to get something off my chest. And almost no one’s going to agree with me but if I do find anyone who does agree with me then I will love you. Okay JURASSIC PARK SUCKS It’s a soulless, pretentious, hypocritical, piece of blockbuster full of annoying ass characters, bullshit science (which wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact people seriously believe what they hear in it), and it’s full of lots of loose plot threads that go nowhere. It’s pretty obvious that a huge reason for it being made was to sell toys. (They even made the toys before they’d cast the guy who played Newman from Seinfeld in it, so his action figure doesn’t even look like him.)

Again, the main problem is how pretentious and hypocritical it is. You basically have this guy who does some amazing beautiful, selfless, thing by reviving extinct animals and he gets shit from everybody for it. Like before anything bad even happens he’s getting shit from the people who supposedly love dinosaurs.

But dinosaurs aren’t magical monsters who do nothing but kill, they’re animals. There was nothing wrong with what he did except for the fact that the zoo was run sooooooo poorly. He had, what, five guys working there. Most real life zoos will have 10 human workers for every animal. And this place has like hundreds of dinosaurs. Guess he “spared no expense” for everything except in this one crucial factor.

Just an electric fence. It wasn’t even that powerful, obviously, since the little shit-head boy didn’t die from being zapped by it. Of course, the girl is soooo much worse, with her know it all attitude with computers mixed with her lack of any actual knowledge with computers. Seriously, OH MY GOD THEY HAVE LYNEX!!!!!! AHHHH, CD ROM!!!! I’M A HACKER. I’M A VEGERTARIAN (which is important to the plot somehow.) She also is apparently the grand daughter of the guy who cloned the dinos but still says the stupidest line in the movie “meatasaurus”.

The big tour of the park was also planned on the day of a storm. Seriously, do meteorologists not exist in their universe?

The T. Rex kills some people. For some reason, I doubt a giant animal like this would go out of it’s way to rip through bathrooms and cars just to eat some tiny people. She was given a goat and everything. Clothes taste awful, too. They of course, also give bullshit about a giant predator that’s closely related to birds having bad eyesight. (In the book it’s cause of the frog DNA but here they make pretty clear that it’s supposed to be natural.) Such another sad bullshitism that the public has picked up from this movie.

So what, else? Ah yeah, the plot thread about the dinosaurs being sick. Well, the Triceratops shits out her own weight, the Brachiosaurus sneezes, and that’s it. They forgot about that plot thread after that. I understand that it goes into this more in the “book” but maybe if you start a plot point in a movie it should like lead somewhere or have a purpose.

The dinosaurs can also change sexes. Which is a big shocking reveal. Except for the fact that it doesn’t change anything. The only thing that mattered was the escaped and (for a while) that they were sick. But the sex chaning thing ads nothing. It was probably only there because Michael Chrichton read about frogs changing sex and felt it would somehow be clever to use it. It’s also the only reason why they have that crap about using frog DNA (even humans are closer related to dinosaurs than frogs). About the only thing it adds is the tragic inevitability of having a shit ton more sequel with no fear of running out of dinosaurs.

Jeff Goldblum can be a great actor. As can be seen in such classics as The Remake of The Fly, Thor and Hulk’s Road Trip to Ragnarok, and The Time He Read the Script to Steamed Hams. But he is just annoying as shit in this. He’s the primary asshole of the movie and embodies the pretentiousness

Samuel L Jackson’s in the movie. He does nothing. He’s never even on screen with a dinosaur. Want to see Samuel L Motherfucking Jackson fight a dinosaur? LOL I bet you would.

Newman and Samuel L Jackson are the only entertaining characters but they both die. I guess that in the book the annoying ass Chaos Theory guy that Jeff Goldblum plays dies, but in the movie he lives to annoy more people in some sequels.

Then we have the paleontologist guy who threatens a fat kid in front of a bunch of witnesses, he’s the hero. He also digs up an Asian dinosaur (velociraptor) in America. Here’s a thought, maybe it’s just fake. He buries it there and brings a tour to dig it up then offers to name it after them if they pay him 50 bucks.The velociraptors are also giant because they’re supposed to be deinonychuses. Even then, Spielberg told the crew to make them bigger. That pretty much gives a good idea of Stephen’s influence on this turd. “Uhh, I dunno, make ‘em bigger. Now leave me alone.” Stephen Spielberg only did it so that Universal would help pay for Schindler’s List, so I forgive him, I guess. They of course have no feathers either, this can be forgiven since it was the nineties and they didn’t know better. This can’t be forgiven, however, for the sequels going on now. “Feather the Raptors” would be a great name for a band, by the way.

Another annoying ass thing whole movie is bound to come up 100% of the time if you let any conversation about dinosaurs go on long enough. You see people who seriously seem to think that this is the only dinosaur related thing, like dinosaurs didn’t exist before this movie. It’s just such an overrated piece of..... well I don’t like it that much. This said, I keep coming back to this franchise just because some of the dinosaurs look decent and nice. And even though the toys are crap I keep looking at pictures of them. I guess I have a large interest in cheap crap made of plastic.

Well, anyways, I’m sure I could complain about it even more but I’ll let it rest for now. Anyways, HIYA Tumblr. How many enemies have I made, now?

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tumblunni · 7 years

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okay HOLY SHIT

I just remembered that show Gargoyles that I loved as a kid, and I decided to rewatch it, and its SOMEHOW EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WAS?? Like holy fuck?? It has one of the best introductions to any show ever! Did I just never see the first episode as a kid, or did all the implications fly over my head when I watched it??

Okay so.. like.. I knew the PREMISE but I didnt expect it all happened in the least expected way! The friggin theme tune tells us that blablabla ancient magical guardian creatures fell under some sort of curse and now they’re revived in modern times, such and such, there you go a one sentence plot. BUT HOW IT HAPPENED HOW it happened oh GOD And like the show starts with a whole hour long flashback to the gargoyles back in olden times?? like thats a really bold move! usually in kids shows theyre like ‘you MUST establish the status quo/episode formula right away’. here we literally only saw two minutes of modern times america. TWO MINUTES! some person we dont know finds some mysterious monster. now lets throw that all away and spend a whole glorious hour establishing how much of an upstanding man that damn monster is, and how the universe treats him like shit. like weirdly enough it raises hype for the modern day episode formula even as it shows none of it?? it makes the audience think ‘WAIT WTF THEYRE NOT EVIL, OH NO WE ALREADY KNOW THE MODERN POLICE IS GONNA ATTACK THEM’ :< And then also we get ANOTHER HOUR AND A HALF of establishing the modern day status quo too?? theyre labelled on dvds and stuff as the first five episodes, but really this was just one big 2 and half hour movie premiere! i wish i could have seen it in its original form back when it first aired, i just remember that it was really hard to catch reruns of the multi part stuff cos toon disney had a lot of airing issues

anyway WHY IS THIS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER?

okay

OKAY OKAY

Here’s our premise! We start off in some ambiguously set medieval kingdom where everyone dresses like a mashup of vikings and englishmen yet have scottish accents ok seriously thats kinda distracting And we’re introduced to this small castle kingdom that’s protected by mysterious guardian creatures of amazing character design. Like seriously i wish they didnt focus so much on this ‘all the main gargoyles have to look more human’ thing, the comic relief teenagers trio was my favourite and also THE COOL GRANDPA EYEPATCH GARGOYLE ok ok im getting offtopic So in this universe gargoyles are a sentient species of winged noble warrior doods, who just happen to have a problem of turning to stone in sunlight. And they protect these humans but the humans are all assholes who’re like WAH BUT THEY LOOK LIKE CHRISTIAN DEMONS THEY MUST BE EVIL even as theyre like.. mid-being-saved. Absolute dumbasses. And seriously YOU BUILT YOUR CITY ON THE GARGOYLES’S LAND! You should count yourself lucky their leader is Niceman Mc Patience who agreed to a peace treaty instead of kicking your ass. Seriously Goliath you kinda comprimised too much! It really fuckin sucks!! The gargoyles are like.. employed by the humans for no form of pay?? They get literally nothing out of it! Except less room to live in their own home, and constant degredation.

Okay so THE HUMAN CHARACTERS AND THEIR CONSTANT DEGREDATION

We’re introduced to the princess and royal vizier dude when the kindly knight captain is like ‘hey you should say thank you to the gargoyles, not me’, and she’s like HOW DARE YOU LET THE BEASTS INSIDE THE HOUSE! Like seriouslt the gargoyles arent even allowed to be seen by humans?? Theyre supposed to protect them every damn day but also should never speak and never have any form of rights as sentient beings. WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR DAMAGE, MEDIEVAL DOODS?? So yeah here’s our brief summary of the everyone here: * Fucking asshole princess who acts like you let your dog shit on the floor if you give a friggin sentient being and king of another civilization the basic courtesy of being allowed to STAND INSIDE THE HOUSE * Cliche evil vizier lookin dood who doesnt really have much personality shown yet except being a sycophant to her anti gargoyle shit, and like.. from his character design you totally expect he’s gonna be evil. *shrug* * Niceman mc guardman who treats Goliath like a friend and is being all activist for gargoyle rights amoung the court. But also he’s really low ranking apparantly, and doesnt have any power to affect change. It seems that he’s been treated like shit by these royals for a long time... * One innocent nice kiddo who wants to hug the gargoyles for saving him, but his jerkass mum is all OMG HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HIM HEY EVERYONE YOU SAW THEY TOTALLY ATTACKED US RIGHT Like seriously he just fuckin tries to start a conversation with the younger gargoyles, and is all ‘youre my hero!’ and they have a nice talk that establishes a load of worldbuilding like how gargoyle culture doesnt have any form of names and Goliath only has one cos the humans gave it to him. Screw you, worldbuilding interruption predjudice mom!

Okay so now we have our premise, and we see some mysterious guy in a hood sneaking out of the castle to ally with some raiders who wanna overthrow the country and steal all its riches. Also a minor scene of the teen and kid gargoyle group being sent to their room for 'causing trouble’ even though seriously the humans started it >_> So like.. we all know where this is going, right? Its a pretty big omen when you give us a contrived circumstance for the children to be the only ones who can be safe from this impending catastrophe... And the voice was very gruff and deep so its probably not the princess doing this shit, plus duh she already has all the power so why would she need to stage a coup? Really, the question now is just what vizier man’s motives are for wanting to betray her!

... EXCEPT

This is where the story gets fuckin great, and also where My Soul Is Pained

hey guess who was really the traitor? its.... nice guard man! fffffuck its sooo creepy when the princess is running for help and she’s like HEY THANK GOD YOURE HERE and then he has this big slasher smile and reveals his plan T_T And like.. he’s still.. not really evil?? Nobody here is evil, except the personalityless plot device raider guys who just exist to set up this circumstance. The princess is an ungrateful predjudiced asshole, but she’s beloved by her human subjects and i mean., she never actually does anything evil, she’s just rude and nasty. And the vizier was a complete red herring and actually all his mysterious shit was just him hiding a crush on the princess, so he breaks down when he thinks she’s dead :( And then guard guy also wasnt lying about caring about the gargoyles. he tried to get them to leave so that only the humans would die, but then like.. his ambition overtook that one shred of loyalty he had to his friends. He thought he could get through all this without having to kill them, but when the raider guy insists upon it he ends up agreeing rather than lose his chance at stealing the throne. And then its really slimy how he’s all ‘BUT I DIDNT INTEND THIS ORIGINALLY, ITS ALL RAIDER GUY’S FAULT’ after goliath shows up and cries over the corpses of his family, like seriously what the fuck dude dont try and weasel out of consequences for your actions. But still it feels like he was once a genuinely good guy who just gave in to his selfishness and abandoned his morals?? And i mean its super justified for him to be angry at how he was treated by the princess, and to want to affect change in this society. WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU!! Seriously its so fuckin surprisingly deep to have some guy who’s a fakeout hero in the first damn episode. And some guy who’s a villain just because he stooped to any means necessary to carry out his once-heroic ambitions. Instead of changing society for the sake of the people, he’s sacrificing all the people just to gain the throne, and forgetting why he ever wanted it! SERIOUSLY HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO BE EVEN WORSE THAN ASSHOLE PRINCESS

so yeah then the plot just goes in SO MANY UNEXPECTED DIRECTIONS to get to the same expected conclusion! Instead of just being cursed by the bad guys, the gargoyles were betrayed by the one closest to them, while those bad guys all died innefectually offscreen. And the curse wasnt even an evil act! It happens because of a REALLY COMPLEX GREY MORALITY SITUATION, where the princess and vizier were gonna be sold off for cash, but then because the gargoyles tried to save them the guard guy decided to just execute them instead. So after their triumphant rescue of all the villagers, they find the vizier man sobbing over his dead love, and then he tells them its THEIR FAULT IT HAPPENED. And he doesnt want to live without her, so he makes a really stupid reckless decision and decides to attack the last few living gargoyles. And like RIGHT AFTER he casts the spell on them, he finds out the princess is still alive and its all oh Fuck What The Fuck Have I Done So vizier man tries to undo the curse, but his book of spells got damaged in the fight and (OF COURSE) coincidentally the page about curse lifting is gone. Cue fuckin Everyone Crying. SO FEW EVIL PEOPLE IN THIS STORY SO MANY EVIL ACTS DONE BY THOSE WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE THE HERO like even the vizier and princess realize they were wrong about their anti gargoyle bigotry after they have to see the consequences of it here but its just WAY TOO LATE FOR THAT

and then yo the EVEN MORE UNEXPECTED AND SAD BIT cos our protagonist gargoyle was the only one who didnt get cursed thats unexpected and he basically COMMITS SUICIDE TO BE WITH HIS FAMILY THATS KINDA MORE UNEXPECTED Well its more like a g-rated suicide metaphor?? Everyone thinks the curse will never be broken, so he curses himself too cos he cant live without them. And its really depressing cos even though we know they all eventually get uncursed, so many others just straight up died and also theyll never see their human friends again and also the castle is all destroyed so the fate of the kingdom is really ambiguous too?? we just know that the now-redeemed princess and vizier are gonna do anything they can to protect their citizens and atone for what happened. and they take the last few gargoyle eggs that werent destroyed, and promise to raise them with all of the love and respect they nevr gave poor goliath... and seriously they never say whose children those eggs were but he’s like the only person left who could have given them a proper gargoyle childhood. So like its morally grey that goliath is choosing death together with the people he knows, rather than living and trying to ressurect his dying civilization. i absolutely wouldnt blame him for it though, its not like suicide is an active choice, he wasnt exactly in his right mind at the time! But its just REALLY NICE AND COMPLEX! And raises a lot of questions about what will happen to these new gargoyles who’re raised by humans, how different would they be if goliath and co met them someday? i really hope thats actually a plot thats gonna happen, i cant rememebr ANYTHING about this show lol...

so yeah theres all the FUCKIN COMPLEX DARK MORAL AMBIGUITY IN ANCIENT ENGLANDSCOTLANDGERMANYKINDA and it is AMAZING and it absolutely baffles me how they ahve such great plots when other parts of the writing are kinda awful standard disney cliches?? like seriously they wasted so much screentime on Comic Relief: A Fat Guy Exists. Seriously he just.. exists. They show these really slow and overanimated scenes of him just.. eating things. not even exaggerated or comedic. he ate one pie, lets all make fun of him for twenty minutes but man, no show in the 90s was perfect, lol! this is still pretty damn great! AND VERY EMOTIONAL

oh oh oh and i didnt mention THE OTHER CRYING BIT cos the guard guy gets a cliche disney villain death, the whole accidentally falling off a cliff due to his own actions, so the protagonist isnt morally responsible for killing a man but then what makes it a really unique scene is that THATS NOT THE MORAL STANCE THE SHOW TAKES goliath WANTED to kill that damn man or, at the very least, give him some sort of punishment for what he’d done goliath has a fucking huge despair moment over the fact this villain man died and he wasnt the one who did it “you took everything from me, even my chance at revenge” cue ugly sobbing as this buff ass demon man screams at the heavens and cradles the stone dust that was once his damn wife what the fuck show why are you doing this to me

ITS REALLY GOOD

#blunni thoughts

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theplaguezine · 5 years

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IN FLAMES

Interview with Anders Friden by Daniel Hinds

(conducted June 1999)

Sweden has really established itself as the home of death metal in the 90s. Taking the sound invented in the States to a whole new level, bands like Entombed, At The Gates, and Dismember set the standards for not just brutality, but also melody and technical ability. Then along came Dark Tranquility and In Flames, mixing in elements of folk and classic metal to create an even more potent and accessible variation on the death theme.

With their fourth full-length album, Colony, just released and tour plans around the world, In Flames are set to build even further on their already sizable fanbase. I had the pleasure to talk to vocalist Anders Friden recently about the latest developments in the In Flames camp…

In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between Colony and previous In Flames releases? First off, we have become much better as musicians and it helped in the studio to get a better sound, a better production. There are better songs, too. I mean, the last album was almost two years ago, but I don't actually see that big of a change. We are following the path we have made, not too big of a step. We've stayed true to ourselves, doing what we want and what we love. It's a bit more heavy and also the use of some electronics, like drum loops and stuff, that hasn't been there in the past, so that has changed our sound a little bit.

Is there a theme to this album, lyrically? Mmm, yes and no. It's not a big concept like The Jester Race and Whoracle were. It's more of my view on where I am today, or since the writing of the album in '98 and '99 - what I hear when I talk to people, what I hear on the radio, see on TV, and playing a little bit with the future and what will happen. But it is like small stories in each song, not a common theme all over.

Why the title Colony and how does the cover art fit into that? Well, it's not a big thing behind the title actually. I had ideas for a couple of titles that I showed to the others, like 'What do you think about this?' and they liked this 'Colony' thing. It's short, it's rememberable, and it's linked to the past, the present and the future. The song "Colony" is more about, instead of sitting around complaining about things, it's better to take it in your own hands and do it better yourself. A lot of people, including myself sometimes - I'm not better than anyone else - just complain about things. If you're not out there doing it better yourself, then you should just shut up. As for the cover, I gave Andreas Marshall the lyrics and told him a little bit what I wanted, more or less what mood I wanted, but I feel like he's an artist and he will do better work if he works from his own head instead of me standing over him, telling him exactly what to do.

Could you describe the typical song-writing process for In Flames? Jesper (Strömblad, guitar) and Bjorn (Gelotte, guitar) do the riffs at home, they bring it to the rehearsal studio where all of us put our own identity on the song. Then we'll put it together, leave something open for the studio, like some melodies or solos. It's more fun to work in the studio when not everything is planned, as you can come up with new ideas and stuff. I write the lyrics. I write small pieces here and there and then put them together, make them a story.

You mentioned using some electronics and whatnot, so I was curious if the recording process was any different this time? We used the same studio, Studio Fredman, but we did work a little differently. Like, we made three songs in a row, the complete songs, instead of making all the basic tracks in a row, like all the drums, all the bass and so on. So we had everything, all the microphones, up there all the time. Then we could concentrate more on each and every song. [when doing them all at once], when you're on your tenth song or whatever, after a lot of drum takes, you tend more to be like, 'Oh, whatever.' We used a guy for the electronics thing, but we made the song as we would have made it without the electronics - made it the normal In Flames way - so we put the electronics after, instead of building the song around the electronics.

Do you enjoy working in the studio? Yeah, I like it a lot, but it is a totally different thing from playing live. I like both. If it is a great vibe in the studio and you are able to experiment, you have time, then it's a lot of fun - not when there is stress or you have to come up with something really, really fast. Or you have everybody against you (laughs) or something like that. It happens sometimes, where you're making something you're very proud of, and the others are like, 'Uhhh….,' and you have to compromise. Most of the time, we are on the same level, otherwise it wouldn't work.

Are you involved in any music projects outside of In Flames? No, I work in all my spare time (laughs). In Flames takes a hell of a lot of time: we rehearse pretty often, we tour and stuff. But I have the studio, the Studio Fredman where we recorded. We recently moved and built two studios in one, and I am half owner and work there, so that takes most of my time.

Do you think you might get more involved in the production side of things? I'd like to, but I don't have that much time. In Flames is my main priority and as long as that is taking the most time, I will concentrate on that. When I'm at home, I try to work with bands because it is good fun and I like to meet people. I have to think about the future as well. I mean, I don't think I'll be screaming my ass off when I'm 50. But you never know…

You're heading to Japan soon to tour - have you guys been there before? Yeah, we were there in the beginning of '98, February, and it was an amazing experience. We played two sold-out shows, one for 600 people and one for 1400 people, and it was amazing. All hands in the air, from the first row to the last. We played there by ourselves and…it's hard to describe. I'm really looking forward to going back there again. Everybody was really friendly.

I have heard that you might be doing some dates in the U.S. as well - any more info on that? For now, I know that we are definitely going to the Milwaukee Metalfest, but then I don't know. It was meant from the beginning that we'd do some more dates around Milwaukee while we were over there, but now I don't know if we're going straight back to Sweden to do some more festivals, and then go back to the States and do both Canada and South America as well. For now, it is only Milwaukee, which is going to be great because this is the first time we've played there. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it is, you know. You hear so much about how the metal scene is in the States and I'd like to experience that.

Going back a bit, how did you come up with the name 'In Flames' in the beginning? Well…(laughs) A former guitarist of ours, Glenn, who left after Whoracle was released, it's something which was in his head and I don't really know. I wasn't in the band in that period, so I really have no clue. I have some clue, but it's not worth to mention I promise you. (laughs) But it's a good name - short, memorable.

In Flames have become kind of the standard by which all melodic death metal bands are compared lately. How does that feel, to be in that band? If people use us as an inspiration… It's an honor to be recognized as the band that has been in the forefront because we always have done this, even if we've developed as musicians, we always done the same thing. We haven't bowed to any trends. If there was a trend, it definitely was because people talk about this New Wave of Swedish Death Metal and the Gothenburg style or whatever - the trend came to us and not the other way around. It's nice to be recognized. It's an advantage, but also a disadvantage because people get sick of the whole concept and if you're recognized as a one-dimensional band, then it's not good. To be named as an inspiration, though, is an honor, of course.

What is your take on how the whole death metal scene has progressed over the years? Well…everything comes and goes. Here in Europe, we've had this big - and I think it's on its way down now - heavy metal revival, bands from the 80s, and also some new bands as well. Like HammerFall have had great success over here. I don't really know what happened to them when they were in the States. I talked to them a little bit, but it was more about the (laughs) beer and the girls. Seriously though, I don't know what happened over there, but over here, now there's a couple brutal death metal bands and I'm hearing about a revival for them. But I feel it is healthy, that there are bands coming and going. A lot of younger bands come up, take the old concept and make it a little bit…not more interesting, but they take it to another level and make their own thing from something old. I listen to so much music, it wasn't so much before when I was into the whole underground thing. The underground is good and we wouldn't be here without it, but nowadays it seems like the bands talk more shit about each other and before people helped each other. Now, it's 'who is more evil than the other' or 'who is more brutal' - that's not my cup of tea.

The official In Flames web page is pretty good and I was wondering if you spend much time on the 'net? Well yeah, we're out there, we're connected, all five of us. There's a guy who is running that page and doing a good job and we try to keep it updated as much as possible. Sometimes we have chats with fans. We have had pages in the past and I've seen other bands where the news pages are really, really old, and that's kind of boring, so we try to be as up there as possible.

What are your long-term goals for In Flames? Well, to tour as much as possible. My biggest wish is that every person in the world should own an In Flames CD, but (laughs) I believe that is never going to happen. To reach out to as many people as possible, be a good influence to other bands. We do this our own way and if people become happy or angry or whatever, as long as we can touch people. We love to do this, all five of us. That's basically it.

www.inflames.com

#In Flames #interview #jun1999

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anideawhosetimehascome · 7 years

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rant about music~

OH MY GOD this makes me feel so warm and fuzzy I can’t stop smiling. Thank you so much. I’m so grateful for this opportunity.

This is gonna be so messy just prepare yourself.

I have to say, right now, my favorite band is City and Colour. I’ve been saying that for awhile, maybe half a year or even a year, god it’s been a long year. I’ve bought two concert tickets to see him. I had to sell the first one (it was a really good seat, third row :(..) but hopefully I can see him with his band with my other ticket (general admission smh) and once more on a fully solo tour like the first ticket I bought.

One Direction comes next as always but each individual member of one direction is ranked differently… louis, harry, liam, and niall in terms of whose music I care most about. I know louis has only put out one collab so far but he’s my favorite,of course I’m most excited for his stuff.

AND I BOUGHT A TICKET TO SEE HARRY HOLY FUCK !!!! I GOT A SEAT IN SECTION 5 IN PHOENIX SO FUCKING CLOSE TO THE STAGE. I GOT SO LUCKY BECAUSE I WAS A COUPLE MINUTES LATE AND I GOT AN AMAZING SEAT. THE PIT IS IN FRONT OF ME AND SO IS 30 OTHER ROWS BUT THATS IT IM GOING TO BE IN THE SAME ROOM WITH HIM AND HEAR HIS BEAUTIFUL CROONING VOICE LIVE AFTER 5 LONG YEARS. I’m just trying to imagine doing the same with louis and my head is exploding. Shoutout to my mom for letting me use her debit card since I haven’t got any paychecks yet.

Protest the hero is an anomaly in my life, I really haven’t been into them in like over a year, but they remain top 3 because I can’t let them go. I love all of their albums (except I only listened to their most recent one once rip) but if I ever got to see them live I would know almost every song IF NOT every single one by heart and that’s an experience I haven’t gotten to have yet. Hopefully twice this year I’ll have that. Maybe I’ll look out for a protest the hero tour and see if I can swing a ticket.

After that it’s really hard to rank everything. I have my favorite albums that differ from favorite artists.

Alt-J is high on my list. They’ve put out some really good shit. I liked An Awesome Wave multitudes more than the other album. I’m hoping his most recent one kinda brings them back to that era.I wish I could travel to the U.K. to see Aquilo. Their album Silhouettes is the best fucking album EVER and yet they’re so small they can only tour their tiny home country. They need more recognition.The Shins are coming to a local venue only a couple hours away and it blows my mind because I fell in love with Wincing the Night Away but they have a plethora of other albums that I didn’t love and I wouldn’t feel right going to a concert where I only knew like 3 of the songs. I wish they did a Wincing the Night Away revival tour where they only sang songs from that album just to appease me lmao.Kendrick’s new album is such a mindfuck. That’s been on repeat the past few weeks. I need to listen to his other stuff too.Sweet Sexy Savage by Kehlani is the genre I’ve been really into lately. That sultry R&B pop is just SO delicious. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever heard before. Her voice is like brown sugar and butter. Everything she does with the instrumentals, her voice, and the backing track is just MIND BLOWING I love it so much.Of course The Weeknd has to come in here. I just saw him live a week ago. It was the best concert I’ve ever been to (the only other one was Taylor swift. She sounds good live, but I’m not a huge fan). STARBOY IS THE BEST ALBUM EVER SERIOUSLY. I was a bit disappointed he didn’t sing more tracks from Starboy because I didn’t know some of the ones from his older albums. Also perpetually disappointed that kendrick never showed up for sidewalks.

Old Crows/Young Cardinals by Alexisonfire has been very high on my list lately. Reminiscent of protest the hero for the reasons I like them, but their voices are COMPLETELY different. It always takes me awhile to get used to screaming and really rough jagged voices, but once I do, I’m either head over heels in love with them or I fucking hate them. Usually the former. If Dallas Green (city and colour) wasn’t involved in this band, I would have never touched them.

Spirit by Depeche Mode has also been a genre I’ve got into lately. I just kept seeing the same fucking google ad every time I opened the app “Spirit by Depeche Mode is out now!” why the FUCK google gave me that ad I don’t know, but it caused me to find one of my most treasured albums. It’s very politically charged which I LOVE. I see the message of each song loud and clear as a movie in my head and it makes me fall deeper in love with it each time.

Now I’ve forgotten everything else, so I’ll start going through albums alphabetically.

Arctic Monkeys is a band I really need to listen to more. I’ve only listened to A.M. once fully through and only stuck with a couple of the songs. I listened to Humbug and liked it a LOT more, so I have a feeling I’ll love their older stuff.

Ahhh how could I forget about CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN. God I spent an hour on YouTube watching them play old versions of The Balcony the other day, it was the best live video I’ve ever watched. He sounded even better than on the album, and I was transported to those shows for that moment where he seemed to be playing in some seedy basement. I wanted to see them live last year for my birthday but didn’t get a ticket. Maybe I’ll be able to get one sometime soon. That’s a band I NEED to see live before I die. They are fucking amazing. Their songs are everything I love about bands.

I’ve listened to a bit of Two Door Cinema Club. I need to listen to more. It’s hard with Apple Music. As you can see I have so fucking much to listen to and it never ends. I think I like music… a lot more than most people. It’s weird to think about. But anyway. Sun, that’s a good song.

Space Oddity by Bowie makes me feel high. R.I.P.

Frank Ocean has been a recurring name lately. Chanel and Self Control are two gems of his.

Cold by Maroon 5 and Future is one of my guilty pleasure songs. I could listen to it for hours and it wouldn’t get old. I don’t even know why I find it so orgasmic.

Cake is one of those bands that wormed their way into my heart a long time ago and I don’t really know how or why and I haven’t listened to enough of their songs because they have too many albums and they’re all from the 90s and I’m so young yet I feel so old when I listen to them. It makes no sense and I love it.

The Dark Side of the Moon. Need I say more? Yes. Us and Them. Brain Damage. Eclipse.

I’m a fan of Blackbear’s new album digital druglord. Very different from what I usually listen to. I don’t always have a usually, but when I do, Blackbear’s not in it.

Message to Bears is the best study music. They’re what I put on when I need to have a quiet night with some undertones of depression and existential realization. Still one of my low key favorites that I always forget about.

FOUR saved the music industry.

I need to reiterate how perfect Protest the Hero is. Listen to Kezia. LISTEN TO IT.

Oh, every time I get the chance to rant about this I will. Little Hell by City and Colour is an album about going from Catholic to atheist, and each song is showing his progression in realizing that. Now this is just my headcanon, but with the first song being about “finding each other in the dark” sounding suspiciously like someone finding God and the last song being a blatant message on being raised religious but rejecting the “make believe” stories. I could theory craft on this album all day. It has seriously made me reconsider naming Sometimes, his first album ever, my favorite, and instead reclaiming Little Hell, City and Colour’s third studio album, as my new favorite. But since it’s just a theory and I have yet to confirm or deny anything, I’ll keep it at my second.

Listen… I know he’s a snake but Zayn’s album was actually really good. I literally haven’t touched it for a year but I really enjoyed it for a long time.

I like the Radiohead quote. I’m not like that at all but I can get into their music, like Nice Dream. Maybe because when I found that song I would have related to that quote. Music is so strange, man.

The Beach Boys, Coldplay, The Boxer Rebellion, Fun., Syd Matters, Breton, The National, Secret & Whisper, G-Eazy, and Bastille all get honorable mentions for being some of my favorites at one point in time.

I hate how into music I am. But I love it so fucking much. I remember in 2010 when I bought a Britney Spears song on the radio and I decided to listen to the mixtape my friend made me because I needed some new music. It changed my life forever because it opened me up to a whole new world that I had never heard before. I’m eternally grateful to her for introducing me to musical curiosity. I will never get over it and I don’t want to.

Despite what I’ve written, I’ve only just now realized how much music I have on my Apple Music library that I’ve literally added and never listened to. I need to work on that.

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lordgeales · 7 years

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One entire year at Tumblr :D

DEAL WITH IT

An entire year at Tumblr running a rp blog for a vampire that we now know.. A tiny bit about. Instead of just a whole lot of nothing. When I think about it, I don’t think that much has changed, but looking back... It has. Back when I started up, I honestly had no idea how the customs of tumblr RPs worked. I didn’t know about rules, formatting posts, icons... Honestly NOTHING at all. I’m still amazed that no one yelled at me.

I think I caught on pretty quickly tho, four months later, I made this blog. Changing from a sideblog, to a main. And boy, that changed a lot. With that came the new icons(why did I decide to go all out with them... Whhyyy), promos, rules, a design(that is very old holy-), and everything a RP’er should have. At least according to tumblr.

Although I have to say that I still felt a bit alone being on tumblr. I never really got to speak to people OOC, and the ones I reached out to.. Oboi (((: Let’s forget about that. It gradually became better. In May I met what I’d call my first “tumblr friend”. Who unfortunately isn’t very active RP-wise anymore.

December was wild compared to the rest of my time. Starting with a meme that led to me getting to talk with Lily(@elyon-kurae), not to mention the dear Vero(@monophagia) joining in on the RP :D! That has led to yet another chain event, and I’m very much involved in the RP community now. I think I finally understand what it’s all about.

And although I’ve been through a lot, weeks of inactivity, spikes of activity and shitposting, tons of asks, lack of asks.. Hm, well, we’re still here. I still have the pleasure of talking to most of the people I did back in the days, and a lot of new to call friends.

The people I’ve been interacting with through the time under the cut. Read at own risk it’s very... Long.

People listed in the correct order they appeared at my blog c;

@lestkarrkingofeurope: Starting out with a strange RP on a drawing I won(reblogged just before this post~). I have no idea what we were doing, but it was a lot of fun! Also the reason I even stumbled into this community to begin with. Lately I’ve had the pleasure of being... blessed a lot. Save me from my sins, oh holy tsunami.

@forgottenprogenitor: I think you came along with Lest, with your former muse, Akane. I adored that RP, giving me a chance to show some of Urds more gentle sides. Akihiko was the absolute breakthrough though, I adore him. I love our interactions, and look forwards to yet another year!

@tatsu-rose-bathory: YOU CAME WITH A FLOWECROWN! I remember that much :D! It took a few weeks before we eventually interacted, but I was pretty much in love with Tatsu from the start(still very much am). I really enjoy reading about her, not to mention their occasional small talk they do nowadays. It’s so nice having someone around that Urd actually looks at with gentle eyes ;-;

@makotonarumi/@dusksovereign: Unfortunately no longer active, but just for the sake of people reading it - Holy fUCK?! When you first reached out to me I was soooo confused. Still am. You are/were an amazing writer, and honestly I felt so bad whenever I wrote replies, because.. Ah, I didn’t feel worthy at all. You were extremely nice to me, however, sending me all kinds of anon-love, tagging me in memes... Ahh. Thank you so much. I don’t think you know how much it meant to me. Just. Thank you. And I’m sorry for being such a slob with the replies.

@ferid-trash-bathory/@shusaku: Turns out you’ve been around forever. Through it all. Wow. Sometimes I do wonder just how bad of an impression i left back then *lol*. Ah, I remember us talking every now and then, it’s just lately I’ve come to know you for “real”. I really like your portrayal of “Fred”, not to mention Shusaku.... Who I might have been a bit mean to back then.... *coughs* Aha, but I’ve been sure that you were nice for a very long time. Still very happy that I reached out to you about the Egypt AU. Although Vero was dying in the background. Best meme lord. Also someone I can always trust to help Urd get revenge on Saito. Gotta get back at that ass amirite.

@mrsaitou: “My first real Tumblr friend” ahh. I really miss having you around. We talked a lot about... I don’t even know. But we talked a lot. I can’t even remember if it started in May, where the first meme with you were tagged, or if we started talking later on. I think I have your personal somewhere... Might dig that out sometimes soon to hear what you’re up to.

krultepxs: Deactivated, unfortunately... A Krul I had tons of fun with, planning all kind of strange stuff. Urd keeping Krul a prisoner after her treason in the Kremlin. An AU where they had to marry. Unfortunately we never got to RP, or plan that much due to me going hiatus for a few weeks.

@lvstforblood: OKAY WE BONDED OVER A MEME... And then never talked again. Rip. But if you ever feel like rp’ing, you know where to find me. Winks at.

@asurayuucentral/@perfectasura: I can’t even remember when you started coming around tbh, but we haven’t interacted that much. Still I feel like you’re kinda my friend, and I love to see your little likes and crack reblogs ;-;! Also I’d love to rp with you some more whenever!

@erisblonde: Wonder if you’re still around and into the fandom? We’ve theorized a lot about Urd ahh... Unfortunately it kinda died out - probably due to me going inactive. I tend to do that a lot, huh... Just know, that if you feel like talking theories, hit me up. Anytime. Anyday.

@riddlemehiss/@dil-a-to-ry: WOOP! MY FAVORITE CAT! Okay I was kinda skeptic when The Cheshire cat waltzed into my askbox. But surprisingly I really enjoy his interactions with Urd. You play him amazingly, like holy shit. I’ve enjoyed every single second. Also you’re a really nice person, I think I still see you around every now and then, although Cheshire is on Hiatus. But if you ever feel like reviving him... You can count on Urd to be confused by his lack of respect for gravity :P!

@masterofzawarudo: Can I just say that I love everything about Dio. Although Urd doesn’t. In fact he’s probably annoyed by every single fiber of his being. Sorry for not reaching out to you more often, you’re seriously awesome. Although I find it kinda hard to connect on the strength-level, since our muses come from such different verses. BUT AS LONG AS THEY DON’T FIGHT I’M UP FOR ANYTHING. COME FIGHT ME! YA! wait, don’t do that. Fuck. Also I don’t follow you because I don’t watch Jojo, and you post so much stuff about that rip, still love your blog tho

@kruliisms: Hmmm... Here’s where I’m in doubt. I never wrote it down anywhere, but are you perhaps Krultepxs? Ah, I don’t know. What I know for sure, is that we never really got back to RP’ing, and that you’ve gone inactive yet again. But just to let you know, if you ever feel like doing something with Urd - you’re more than welcome to hit me up :)!

@krullish: Hmm... I think we planned something a while back, but never got around to do it? But anyway, if you feel like RPing with the... shitty russian vampire lord, well... Here I am. Still around c;!

@repulsc: EEEYYYYYYY CASCADA AND LATE NIGHT SHIT POSTING! That my jam. Also chain kinks. I did not say that. I don’t think we’ve ever done anything aside from shitposting and endless icon threads of stare-battles. Always up for more. Or smth serious, whatever you feel like. Winks very hard at.

@brassboundvalkyrie: I think I first noticed you for real when you commented on a picture of me(the mun), however I never really got around to talk to you. Unfortunately our muses are not very compatible orz! BUT HEY! Suddenly you were there, yelling to me about Vero, and whelp... I accidentally joined. Whops. You’re a real nice person, and I looove your Horn. Hope she’ll find a Crowley soon. Until then, I’ll suffer in silence with you. Looking forwards to meeting you c;! Just... No straw, and no masks, k?

@wintersoldier-barnes: Wiggles eyebrows Please send me more Urd. Send me all the Urd. I love the Urd. Gimme the Urd. Urd drug buddy. Also yet another sinner of the SaiUrd squad. Feel free to send me (n)Urds at any times, or just anything in general. You’re amazing to talk to, so~! Also you’re a really pretty Urd holy shit

@rk-silverknight: You just fit in here for some strange reason, because Noblesse yass! We’ve never interacted ic, but you’re still a really nice person! I hope we’ll get to talk some more sometimes in the future. Or perhaps break the bundaries between our muses worlds... Who knows. Perhaps they could actually get along.... Or just have a silent starring contest.

@elyon-kurae: I can’t even... How did we go from relationship meme to... Talking about high and low? You are an adorable person, and.. So sorry for ruining your innocence orz! BUT EYY SAIURD BUDDY~! Also corner buddy, Tumblr sis, and everything really. I like you tons <3

@rigr-stafford: It’s really nice to have you around! I know we haven’t talked much ooc, but just stretching a leggi out and saying EY I LIKE YOU TOO! Looking forwards to our future interactions!

@borntobeafangirlxd: I think it’s really cute how you manage to like my posts all the time. Aaahhh, you probably have no idea how much it means to me! I’m so happy you like my portrayal,

@monophagia: How the fuck did the tag “Another traitor has joined the game~” END UP IN A THREAD WITH MIKU, A TV BEING IMPALED BY A SPOON, AND MAKEOUT ON THE BLOODY FLOOR?! KJLaslfhalskfd. I cannot. Even. Just... Lol. Also you liking that Saito-rp-partner ask, and actually making a blog for him is probably the best thing that happened in my whole Tumblr history. You almost deserve a whole post by itself, so I’ll just stop before it gets too long lol. I love u bby, and I fucking adore your Saito. Be it angsty human Saito who gets way too dramatic whenever Urd ignores him, the priest who adores his pharaoh way too much, or the canon-vampire with his weird pudding obsession. You’re a joy to write with, and honestly I’m amazed we’re still keeping it up. I’M SO HAPPY YOU REACHED OUT TO ME?! OK SEE U IN LIKE... SOON. Don’t kidnap me for too long when I come to Germany tho. I cannot German.

@playfulprogenitor: For some reason I can’t tag you? BUT just want to let you know, that you’re free to swing by anytime! It was really fun seeing you join in on the shitposting!

@lacus-owns-you: We actually interacted through your OC @louischerel long before I even knew that it was you on that Lacus account. HELLO MOMMY! You’re a joy to talk to, and although we rarely RP, I still enjoy haning out with you ooc <3!

@hiiragi-yukine: Aaah you seem so nice! Although we haven’t really spoken outside the RPs, I really enjoy your OC. Also Yukine as faceclaim doesn’t make it any worse noragamiftwamirite.

@ALL THE PEOPLE I PROBABLY FORGOT

Thank you so much for following me! And I’m so sorry if I forgot you, I had to go through a lot of posts, so I probably did orz.

@ALL MY ANONS

I LOVE YOU TONS THANKS FOR ALL THE ASKS THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT

AND THANK YOU FOR LOVING URDS BUTT I know it’s amazing

He secretly loves you too

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socialinteractions · 7 years

Text

Murphy’s Law

-Shit, what happened now?

-I was walking Donnie, then I saw a white bird…and then you started to have a seizure. Damn it.

-It’s really bright in here; I must be in the hospital.

-Wait, I can’t move.

-Oh fuck, did I fall and break my neck? Am I dead? Oh shit Oh god Oh shit

***SCREECH***

-What the fuck is that?!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!???!

~~~~SYSTEM DIAGNOSIS: COMPLETE~~~~

-What the hell. I’m ‘seeing’ this, but not…

~~~~LOADING…~~~~

~~~~Bioelectricity - 10%~~~~

~~~~Temperature - ~~~~

-Seriously, what in the fuck is going on?

***Hello, Mr. Murphy. You are safe. You can call me ‘Linda’. I am here to help you transition back.

-The voice I ‘hear’ is calming, very reassuring. I could swear it was my Mom’s…

***Mr. Murphy, may I call you Walter?

-I try to open my mouth to say “Just call me Walt” when

***Okay ‘Walt’. Like I stated before, I am here to help you transition back.

-What do you mean transition back?

***Do you remember participating in the Musk Industries SEYMORE Program?

-Yea, wasn’t that the… I’M DEAD?!?

***Calm down Walt. Yes, you did die, on a Tuesday, April 4th 2034.

-Wha…what happened, did I break my neck having a seizure? What about Donnie?

***The medical report states that you did have a seizure, but that isn’t what killed you. It says you died from a massive amount of hornet stings. When you had the seizure, you seem to have fallen into a hornet’s nest…and your spasms only made things worse.

***Donnie was fine: he was able to get off his leash and that’s how the police found your body. Unfortunately, it was too late to revive you.

-So I’m dead…

***No Walt. Well not exactly…

***Your body died: All bioelectricity stopped, preventing your conscience, your ‘you’, from controlling your body.

-…So I’m dead?

***Yes. Please take as much time as you need to process this. I will be here, just say ‘Linda’

-…My family? Linda?

***After you passed, your sister was able to make recording to you. During your transition back, you will be able to view them, and many others.

-You keep saying ‘transition back’. What do you mean?

***As per the agreement for the SEYMORE Program, your ‘pod’ was upgrade to the most current version Mush Industries had to offer.

***When you died, your body was initially put into a simple cryo chamber, much like the one in the pamphlet that was sent to you when you were selected for the Program.

***Over time, Musk Industries was able to integrate their Cryogenics with Plexul Technologies to create a Cryo Chamber filled with Grey’s Goo.

-What the hell is Grey’s Goo? Sounds disgusting

***Grey’s Goo is a fluid of Nano machines. These machines have to be kept at subzero temperatures to run effectively, making them perfect for cryogenics.

***Over the next 6 months, these machines will go about repairing your body: conditioning cells, perfecting eyesight, repair damaged cells form the cryo process, and repairing synapses.

***When the thawing process is over, you will be at peak physical and mental condition.

-YEAH! That is awesome!

***But this is not permanent. If you want to keep this body, you will have to stick to a fitness regimen.

-What, the goop won’t keep me fit forever?

***’Fraid not. The machines can only work in subzero temperatures. Once they get above a certain temperature, they essentially melt out of your body.

-Okay, makes sense.

***Also, while at first your mental capacity will be in peak form, over time you will begin to lose long term memory, and anyone who ages does.

-Well, I have 6 months to study stuff I guess

-WAIT, did you say 6 months?!?

-I’m trapped in my head for 6 months?!

***Not entirely. You downloaded 20 terabytes of media for the SEYMORE Program. You have about 3 ½ months of TV shows, 2 months of Movies, and various other media.

***Also, I have stored on me important historical documents to catch you up.

-Wait, how long have I been frozen?

***I can’t access our GN right now, but the last system update was from 2265. My internal clock seems to be off, so I don’t know todays exact date.

-2265? It’s been over 200 years? Wow.

-How much has changed?

***Well, let’s start with your family…

Linda let me know that my sister died 6 years after me. She had an aneurism at a baseball game.

I got to watch six years of her talking to me like I was still there.

Linda explained to me that the Nano machines were able to ‘stimulate my neural pathways in a way that (I am) able to hear and see things, like in The Matrix.’ Kinda ruined the movie for me to watch during my six months but oh well.

After my sister pasted away, my nieces and nephew would make movies for me, letting me watch them grow up. The messages came fewer and fewer, until Linda said there was no more.

Being stuck in your head, alone, isn’t a fun place to be.

Linda told me about what mankind had been up to.

About 12 years after I died, the first baby was born on Mars at Daedalia without defects. When I was alive, they were still having still-borns.

Being able to reproduce on a different planet made space travel a lot easier. That and the EMP drive along with the cryo pods made space travel seem instantaneous. We were able to send recons to Europa, and discovered life there! I was sad that I missed that event, but elated at the fact of it. Linda showed me the pictures of the creatures; some were strangely beautiful, while others were H.P. Lovecraft nightmares.

The thing about the thawing process was I didn’t sleep. My mind was always on.

Video games helped, I was able to play entire collections of franchises. Still no Half Life 3. There was a spiritual successor that mixed Portal and Half Life, but it left me asking more questions than answers.

Linda told me about half way through that my pod was being transferred to a museum about the 21st Century. The Museum was on planet hundreds of light years away! Apparently, while we hadn’t figured out FTL Travel, scientist had found a way to ‘pinch space-time into a singularity in a stable position keeping it in the front of the craft.’ Linda said it was basically like having a black-hole in front of the ship like a carrot in front of a horse.

This was blowing my mind. Was I going to be a celebrity when I get out? Will people look the same? Is everyone like a robot? What if I sneeze and they shoot me on sight?

I would know in about 3 hours.

-To be honest Linda, I think I am going to miss you. I know you’re not real, but it’s just been you and me all this time.

***Don’t worry Walt. There is a mobile device in the storage compartment on you pod. Musk Industries didn’t want you to be alone after this event, so they loaded me into it. You can even give me a holographic body to facilitate in the ‘letting go’ process.

***I’ll be here to help you transition into this new world we are both about to enter! And I’m just as excited as you are!

-Alright Linda. I think I’m ready. Let’s do this.

The pod cracks open.

I hit the floor. Hard. I hear my wrist snap.

I try to scream out in pain, but all I can do is puke out what looks like tar. It’s cold, but as I heave it out of my lungs, I feel it warming my body. Before I can throw it all up, I feel the warming sensation on my wrist. The pain turns to a dull throb.

After I was able to catch my breath, my vision started to clear up. I was in some room, the lights were on the floor, but not on purpose.

The room looked like it was upside-down. Explains why I fell.

Everything was tossed about and covered in a thin lay of dust.

-What the hell is going on?

“Hello!?! Is anyone there?! I’m in here!!”

-God, there has to be someone

“HELLO!!! ANYONE!!!”

-What happened? Was there an earthquake? A planetquake?

I look around the room. There’s stuff everywhere, but I don’t recognize what it all is. The whole time I start to become aware of my surrounds, and the fact that I am naked.

My body catches me off guard. My beer keg is now an 8 pack. I can see…myself. My legs look about the same, but I’m no longer barrel chested. Linda said the nano machines would condition my body to peak shape, but I wasn’t expecting this.

I start moving around the room. The room is huge. I all of a sudden remember reading a book when I was a kid about cool life hacks. I remember everything about reading that book suddenly, and there was a part about cool math tricks.

I instantly know the room is 600x400 feet, and 26 feet high.

“Whoa. How did I do that, I suck at math.”

I instantly remember Linda saying my synapses were conditioned. It’s amazing. I hardly have to think. I remember everything I ever experienced. The sights, sound, smells, emotions. All of it.

Instantly.

I start to see the white bird again…

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spiderfan22 · 6 years

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DAY THREE HUNDRED AND TEN - 3/19/18

“THE TALKBACK” by DJS

Another page and a half from the one-act. You do what you can do with the time you have.

Characters

Mark Storey, an actor in his late twenties

Sarah Klein, an actress in her forties

Constance Romero, a costume designer in her sixties

Setting

The stage of a theater, be it a blackbox, regional theater or Broadway.

An audience talkback after a performance of the play-within-the-play “The Final Sitting”:

We’re watching the closing moments of the play-within-the-play. From backstage. Through a door leading onto the set.

The scene is between a young Renaissance painter (played by the actor Mark Storey) and his subject, a housemaid (portrayed by the actress Sarah Klein).

She is on her way out the door. He blocks her exit.

Note: there is something affected about Sarah’s performance here, a rawness that is both deeply moving and not entirely within her control. She has trouble getting out the words.

MARK (on the verge of tears) Ingrid, please. (No response.) Please!!

SARAH (choked) No.

MARK Then I will burn this painting.

She begins to protest and they struggle.

I will, every vestige of it—of you! Till it is nothing but ashes! Or better, drive a knife through the canvas, through your heart for abandoning me now!!

SARAH This is foolishness—

MARK No—

SARAH Folly! This is folly! The talk of a child!

MARK (roaring) You dare call me a child?!!

He grasps her tighter. She breaks down in tears.

SARAH Oh God, how do you of all people not see?! You who can capture the truth of a moment in a few simple brushstrokes—with your gifts—that even after everything you’ve subjected me to—the, the the the insults, the, the degradation—

MARK I??!!

SARAH Yes, you!! You!! (A deep sigh.) That for all your faults, your many, many faults, and terrible sins, unforgiveable… for me to somehow still respect your talent? Do you know how difficult that is—to, to reconcile in my mind? The artist… And the man.

MARK (quietly) I am both, am I not?

Long pause.

SARAH You are. Of course you are. (Pause.) And a boy no longer.

He releases his grip on her. She turns to go.

MARK Please… Ingrid… to feel your lips on my cheek one more time…

She pauses.

SARAH One last time.

And Sarah kisses Mark softly on the cheek, as she would a child.

The effort should be like moving a mountain for her.

Then she exits, closing the door behind her.

She is very still in the darkness backstage. We can just make out her outline. She has trouble catching her breath.

On the other side of the door we hear Mark weeping loud actor-y tears.

Then the lights go out completely and the play-within-the-play is over.

A burst of applause (recorded).

The scene changes and we are out front now.

It’s after the show.

Three chairs have been set up downstage, with a small table between two of the chairs with a carafe of water and two glasses.

Constance Romero (wearing a body mic) enters from the wings to some applause. The audaciousness of her outfit choice should surprise and delight us.

She addresses the audience from the foot of the stage.

CONSTANCE Thank you. Good evening. It’s nice of so many of you to stick around after the show with us. I’m sure it’s because you’ve been so tremendously moved, not to mention stimulated by this amazing production as we all have that you’re just dying to know more.

My name is Constance Romero. And in case you missed it in your program there—the type is rather small—I designed the costumes for the production. Which, I kid, but was truly my honor to join this remarkable team of theater artists who brought this story to life, that begins at the very top with a great director—who just so happens to be the artistic director of this theater, Mr Dylan Graham, and who, fortune would have it, couldn’t be here tonight because he’s off living the high life in New York—yes, he’s left us all behind—directing a revival of The Cherry Orchard off-Broadway—which is why he couldn’t be here in person himself.

Actually, it was fairly unceremonious how I came to be chosen to moderate this Q and A, really simple convenience. I live just down the block, you see, so they knew they had a sure bet on that end. (A small, nervous laugh.) And while this isn’t my usual “thing”, conducting interviews that is, I will try my damndest for you all to ask the penetrating questions I’m sure we’ve all had stirred up. Because the play, this play The Final Sitting, it does spark a good number of very intriguing, you know—and since you’ve all just seen it I’m not giving anything away—debates it might cause over the actions of the characters, etcetera.

I also must confess to stalling for time a little here. Our actors will be out any minute. Or so I’m told! But, you know, at the same time, it’s a show, right? There’s a certain period of I don’t know what you’d call it—decompression?—and especially for a show like this, so intense that you—that we’re asking them now to hurry that process along. But they’re very eager—I spoke with them both briefly right after coming offstage—to see you all, really see you, with the houselights up, and have a chance to answer any questions that may still be lingering. So we will try to reserve some time for those questions from you at the end. We just ask that any questions do come in the form of a question and not a statement. Good? Thank you? Yes. Makes it easier all around. (She glances towards the wings for confirmation on this.) Oh, yes? Well it seems that’s my cue. (Clears throat.) So ladies and gentlemen, please now will you join me in welcoming back to the stage with a warm round of applause, the stars of this production— Mark Storey and Sarah Klein!

She joins the audience in a round of applause.

Mark enters from the wings, followed a good moment later by Sarah.

They’re both wearing comfortable semi-casual attire and have that fresh, still slightly damp look people have when they’ve just gotten out of the shower and had to dress quickly. They wear body-mics as well.

Mark smiles in a faux modest way while nodding appreciatively to the audience in a gesture of humble gratitude for the warm reception.

Sarah’s smile is weaker, clearly forced, though she’s honestly trying, and her eye contact with the audience isn’t quite what it should be given the situation.

They take their seats, Mark in the middle nearest Constance.

CONSTANCE (as the applause fades) Welcome. To both of you.

MARK Well it’s pretty great to be here, isn’t it?

CONSTANCE I would say—I would say after a show like tonight’s, which seemed just electric. And maybe that’s as good a place to start as any—what is that feeling when you know you’ve sufficiently “upped the ante” let’s call it.

MARK Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean I don’t want to speak for Sarah, but it really felt, you know, like we were just going on all cylinders, you know? Firing— (More to the audience.) Sorry, I get a little (Makes an “I’m crazy” gesture.) just, you know, after a show. Still all keyed up and stuff—

CONSTANCE I’m sure, right, coming down—

MARK Right, yeah. Don’t even know if I’m saying actual words.

He is joking; something Mark has a natural talent for. It’s part of his charm.

CONSTANCE And Sarah, how about you?

SARAH Uhh. The same. Yeah.

MARK (to Sarah) It’s palpable isn’t it? (Back to Constance.) (Thinks.) Alchemy! And you’re lost in it, in the moment! So much so you don’t even know how good it was, you were, until after, and then it’s just like—it’s more like a dream you had at that point. I’m serious, everyone’s patting you on the back like “You were so amazing tonight, the places you went to, yah-yah” and the whole time you’re thinking I don’t even know what happened out there, but I guess thanks for the compliment anyway?? Yeah, it’s weird, you never know what to say. So just say thank you, I guess, try to be gracious?? I don’t know, I’m new to all this, I would ask Sarah. Maybe she has a better perspective, approach.

SARAH (having drifted off) What?

MARK You know, handling praise and everything? I was just saying you might have a better system, how to react to that, given your years of experience. And being so much more talented I think we can all agree?

He leads the audience in applause for Sarah, who smiles uncomfortably.

Seriously, c’mon, give it up for this woman. Like if you ever want to see just a crazy scene of people making absolute fools of themselves—there’s a bar, Flannigan’s, we all go to after the show—and the line—the line-up of folks just waiting to, like, shake this woman’s hand, to offer up their congratulations. It’s like that scene in—what’s the movie? With the two guys, they have like a cable access show—I think it started on Saturday Night Live—why can’t I think of it?

SARAH (small) Wayne’s World.

MARK Wayne’s World, right, yes! Where they bow down, the guys—“We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!” All in praise to Sarah here.

Constance has been eating all this up.

God, that takes me back. We used to watch that movie all the time on HBO. When I was in drama school—it would like, always be on for some reason. Mike Myers, right?

CONSTANCE I think, I’m not sure. And we should mention that when you say Drama School, you of course mean Julliard.

MARK Guilty. Now you’ve done your research haven’t you?

CONSTANCE Some light prep, that’s all. Everything’s on these notecards here, I’d be lost without them. So school was Julliard for you—and for you, Sarah? I have down you went to UCLA?

SARAH Undergrad, right.

CONSTANCE Was that a conscious decision then—moving to California I mean? Had you originally wanted to go into movies or TV?

SARAH Well I had… like probably for a lot of people whose first experience was, I had started acting in high school, where I first really—

MARK Exactly. And weren’t those just the worst? I mean looking back? (To Sarah.) What did you guys do? Like, what monstrosity did your teacher force you to go up there and put on? Because for us it was Our Town. Like I still can’t stand that play.

SARAH I don’t know—

MARK It was Our Town. And then we did a Shakespeare. The Comedy of Errors—ugh.

CONSTANCE And yet you persisted somehow.

MARK Well, me, I’m an attention whore. I just like being stared at under pretty lights, in fancy costumes. Thanks for that, by the way, because—and this is in all honesty, Constance—this has gotta be my favorite costume I’ve ever worn. Bar none—

CONSTANCE Oh. Well thank you—

MARK I mean I can’t speak for Sarah, I’m not the one in a corset, but—

SARAH (feeling the need to praise Constance as well) Oh. Yes—

MARK And that’s so important for a role isn’t it—to actually inhabiting another person, if you’re gonna have any chance—which I think is what we ultimately as actors try to do, try to give—the end goal of the whole process I mean, to become someone else by whatever means at your disposal—fully. And, what I was saying, it’s really the final piece, the clothes. They make the man as they say.

CONSTANCE Well, while I certainly appreciate the compliment, I’m rather in the same boat as you, I’m not the best at taking them.

MARK Who is? Politicians, maybe. I guess.

CONSTANCE So getting back to you, Sarah—

MARK Right, apologies—running this whole thing aren’t I? When I should just shut up—let the lady speak.

CONSTANCE Sarah, college for you was UCLA, southern California, coming out from the Midwest, Ohio I believe? (Sarah nods.) So did you originally have the impulse to try for TV, the movies, or—?

SARAH No, that—I never considered that, no.

MARK Too smart.

CONSTANCE And you followed that up—you didn’t go to grad school correct?—but followed that up with stints at some of the most prestigious regional theaters around the country. Berkeley Repertory and A.C.T. in San Francisco, Arena Stage in Washington DC, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival—

SARAH I did, yes—

CONSTANCE Where you played parts as diverse as Catherine in A View From a Bridge, to Caliban in an acclaimed all-female production of The Tempest. Now I have to say, as a big fan of that show in particular, I would have loved to see that.

MARK You and me both.

SARAH Thank you. Thanks, yeah—

MARK Yeah and in case anyone ever wonders, this is what my jealous face looks like. Yeah it’s Sarah’s resume I think of, like a little scroll in my head, anytime I have to emote that onstage. (Turning on Sarah.) God you’re infuriating, woman!!

Faux mad, he makes to throttle Sarah but doesn’t actually lay hands on her.

Laughter from all but Sarah, who has a pinched smile, caught.

To be continued…

#actors #metoo #regionaltheater #q&a #interview

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