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leamy-world · 3 years

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Some afterthoughts on The Devil Judge (spoilers for all the drama!)

Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing well!!

I wanted to write my thoughts after the finale aired because ep. 13-14 made me a mess and were too nerve-wracking! After these two episodes, i only wanted the week to go by fast to see how the finale unfolded (but at the same time, this drama entertained me sm i didn’t want it to end haha).

Watching this drama each week and reading your reactions and thoughts made me enjoy it even more, i’m glad i came back on tumblr! It was a really nice ride (more like an emotional rollercoaster haha)! It motivated me to write my thoughts and analyses on fictions i watched in the future, especially My Mister and Beyond Evil!! I forgot how much fun it was to do that and putting my thoughts into words gave me a little closure to my watch haha

These are just some afterthoughts & personal interpretations i had and were maybe probably already discussed, but i couldn’t get them out of my head haha

See you around and take care!!!

THE CAST. It left a strong impression on me and i can’t see other actors playing their respective roles!

— Yohan portrayed by Ji Sung … i have no words, this devil judge left me speechless! His character, to his Devilish Smile (and hollow laugh in front of CKH and his son, or Gaon), his variating voice intonations (like damn, he’s a living ASMR like Lee Sung Kyung), his held back emotions and touch-starved and even desperate touches when it came to Elijah and Gaon, to his rage and unhinged moments!

I winced seeing him contort in pain when Sunah revealed Elijah accidentally lit the church fire, and the two times he hugged Elijah totally destroyed me. His last scene with Gaon showed how gazes & micro-expressions alone could convey unspoken words as strongly. I’m weak for these kinds of scenes, My Mister for example did it and killed me haha

For this post, i rewatched some scenes and damn, Elijah and Yohan’s support of Gaon after Soohyun’s death was really emotional …

(They had no business in making Gaon have this kind of dream, those german scissors left a ... strong impression on him haha)

— Kim Min Jung’s depiction of Sunah’s was hauntingly beautiful, a femme fatale who kept a broken child deep inside (and at the same time surfacing on her manners and personality) and a strong businesswoman. It’s a fascinating character i loved hating as a villain but still sympathized with. The scene where she murdered the former foundation’s president sent me chills down my spine (i still have her shot of her, sitting at his bureau and manipulating his speech video)!

The melancholy slipping through her facade when she visited the mansion the first time in a while, as well as her devastation in front of the President’s scheme, by the young girl’s bed at the hospital were memorable. The tension between her and Yohan was incredible: they both managed to keep a very disturbing but enthralling aura, tangled with nostalgia at the same time each time they met.

(Looking at her reflection is a recurring pattern for Sunah’s character, i found this shot above interesting, divided in the two ends of the mirror, as if her self can’t be found on the other side anymore)

— This was the first time i saw a drama with Jin Young and i really loved his playing! Never thought I’d say one day i enjoyed someone’s tears and rage on screen, but his crying scenes stuck with me, especially in the prison yard and the last episode (he deserves therapy after all he went through, really) … And his letter to Elijah … (i’m glad nobody harshly revealed the truth to her, i’m really glad!)

I loved to see how his gaze evolved through this journey with Yohan. His endearment to Soohyun, Elijah and Yohan was very precious ;; Even though Yohan was the one who was first seen feeling lonely, Gaon’s loneliness since his parents’ death slipped through his seemingly fine world, i found that interesting! (And on a lighter note, i’ll always remember the truth behind Mrs. Ji’s cooking, Gaon’s epic reaction, and the pure comedy she gets to own a healthy food shop thanks to Yohan!!)

I also enjoyed his supportive friendship with Jinjoo!!

— Park Gyu Young’s acting was also on point! It’s really too bad she didn’t get more screen time because i wanted to know more about Soohyun!! I felt robbed haha, because when TDJ began airing, they introduced her as one of the ‘main’ characters of this story ;; The scene when she was on CKH’s suicide scene really left a mark on me + when she was confronting Yohan, especially after she took Elijah out!

— Elijah. Just Elijah, our best girl!!! Apparently it’s one of Jeon Chae Eun’s first roles, she did so well!! Along with Ji Sung and Jin Young, she gave a whole new definition to the Domestic Scenes, i swear. These scenes will keep a special place in my heart for a long time! Her adorable smile and cheekiness were a refresher in this show!

(They could change TDJ’s concept in a second season and make us a domestic slice of life series, i wouldn’t mind AT ALL! Take my money!!)

Seeing her complicated relationship with her uncle unfold before us deeply moved me. The complete loneliness she silently depicted moving to her bed in the wheelchair, after Gaon left the mansion was heart-wrenching. And also the scenes after Soohyun’s death, hurting with Yohan seeing Gaon’s pain (the way she spoke her worry for the two of them, Yohan couldn’t let the words out properly to Gaon).

— CKH’s character, played by Jang Young Nam, was amazing. Her acting already shattered me when i watched Nobody Knows! Her cold gaze, her harsh tone, she was badass i have to admit!

The narcissistic rage was well depicted in her character, and even though i get where many’s opinions on her death come from (i share it too sometimes, but i feel it more for Sunah), i found this final decision fitting to the character, especially if you look how she treated her own son (each hold felt like a grip from rage eg. in ep. 3, as she maybe felt her son was the cause of her demise).

(HUGE SPOILERS FOR BEYOND EVIL BELOW!!!!)

She reminded me of HKH’s ending: seeing his path to success was crushed with no way out of it except death on his own accord (in his eyes, because it was his absolute life aim, every single being, to his own wife and son, and means, even bending the justice independence, were his expendable ways to pave his path), HJW’s father was set on suicide before his son barged in.

(Funnily enough, the filming spot for CKH’s house is the same for HKH’s house haha)

— And also … Lawyer don’t-worry-i’ll-get-you-out-on-probation Ko deserves a round of applause for the best lawyer he is hahaha

THE STORY’S DEVELOPMENTS (AND SCRIPT). I feel like this story could very well have been developed on 20+ episodes! Even if i know some scenes in a script are sometimes (bound to be) cut in the drama, TDJ’s script leaks make me feel there was SO much more to be told, and so much more to explain some plot events in the airing drama!

Because the story was ambitious, both character and plot(twists which give you whiplash)-driven (and also the filming context with the pandemic), i feel like some choices were made.

The lines of thought about justice and the drama’s attempts at its ‘true’ definition are not lost on me. It was really interesting!

On a side note (there will be many, bear with me haha), the symbolic behind the app’s name, DIKE, which i’m pretty sure (correct me if i’m wrong, i only have some very rough basics in korean haha) is the korean romanization of Nikè, or in ancient greek Νίκη, the greek divinity of Victory ( ‘ㄴ’ in korean sounds like an ’n’ but its pronounciation is more abrupt/brisker, to the point of what could be sounding to ears like a ‘d’).

Nikè is most of the time represented as an attribute to other greek divinities who also embody the victory eg. Zeus or Athena, thus seen as a bestower of victory (in any domain, be it war, games = interestingly enough, the live court is set in a colosseum-like room, arts, …) to the humanity on behalf of these gods (Nikè sometimes stands in her palm as an attribute of Athena, like the owl or the helmet). But sometimes Nikè was also revered an independent protective divinity.

Nikè is represented as a winged divinity in a long robe, flying above the victorious, assisting the humans in their works/challenges eg. handing them a laurel crown as a sign of victory, or a helmet, etc. Its mostly known representation is the Winged Victory of Samothrace (or The Nike of Samothrace) sculpture in the Louvre. The brand Nike also used it in its logo.

It calls back to Yohan’s line: « I make sure i win before the game starts », and in fact, since the beginning, unbeknownst to everybody witnessing the trials and participating to them, the app was his way to win. It foreshadows the ending of the story, Yohan finally taking down the foundation. It also adds to his god/devil image: he assumes the role of the intermediary/abyss of the « gods » (the Justice), taking in all the hubris of the society in order to bring the justice (well, guess we could say it put some hold to the cycle of the powerful culminating to chaos?) back, in some sort of catharsis through DIKE.

It might be a stretch, but Nikè’s winged representation could be found on Gaon’s tattoo (at first to me, it looked like a phoenix/winged angel, which symbolizes a ‘reincarnation’/new beginning for Yohan finding peace, a second chance to his past and Elijah thanks to Gaon & Gaon finding a new world even if his first crumbled ie. his parents and Soohyun’s death and professor Min’s betrayal).

(The whole virus plot by the end of the story made me feel a little uncomfortable given the actual context and the conspiracy theories that are spreading, but it wasn’t used carelessly and served the commentary of the powerful and how far they would go, i think? That said, a fiction, especially a dystopia like this, stays a fiction but when they used it, it gave me a forced laugh haha)

Now, if someone gets to translate some script bits, i’m really looking forward to:

K’s backstory!!!!!

Isaac and Yohan’s past!!!!

More about Elijah!!

Where’s the cat???

What was the script saying for Gaon and Yohan’s confrontation in ep. 12? When Yohan faced the window, waking up from a nightmare after Gaon left?

ABOUT SOOHYUN’S BACKSTORY. (Now, this will get long, i’m sorry but i needed to let my thoughts out haha) The drama introduced her as one of the four main characters with Gaon, Yohan and Sunah. I had so many expectations for her character! Especially from the three scenes we got of her:

➔ In the first episode, we see her save a young girl in the street from two men, looking up at the poster « A safe Korea will be realized from now on. »: it was a great introduction to the blatant lie of the ‘safe’ dystopian world that was being created in the story. It also showed how Soohyun felt in front of this insecure world. A side note, but seeing her hug the young girl like that reminded me the hugs she gave Gaon: she wanted to protect him from this unjust world with all her might (especially the scene in the restaurant where she hugs him). ➔ Her two confrontations with Juk Chang! ➔ Her dilemma and emotional turmoil when she erases Gaon’s presence in CKH’s office.

She was portrayed in the story as Gaon’s pillar since his parents’ tragic death and his moral compass. She’s the lawful citizen, despite feeling helpless to the world’s changes, who hopes it could be saved as long as the rule of law is preserved by everyone, and this begins by respecting it themselves.

But she was not standing around and i kind of regret this was not shown more in the story: she kept doing her best in the « system », fighting from the inside the injustice hoping the little changes could make a difference someday. Because she couldn’t take Yohan’s path, in no way: the system/the law must be respected for it to be sustained. And i’m glad they addressed this point in the drama: Yohan chose to take on the role nobody wanted or even dared to assume, knowing fully well he became a criminal the second he began his plans (just as lawyer Ko said he was no longer a lawyer once he sided with him).

This must not be glorified, nor vilified. As he said, it was a choice he decided to make. She mirrors his choices to some extent and i would have loved to see more of their interactions or her thoughts about that! And how she worked through the system to change things, her vision of the justice. They showed us the flashback of her career choice in high school, and it could have been interesting to learn more about her!

A backstory about her saving the youth and meeting Sunah by accident would have been very interesting (given Sunah knew all about her since the beginning and ordered to kill her). Their meeting wouldn’t have foreshadowed Sunah’s plans, quite the opposite, and it would have given more ‘substance’ to her plans. We were robbed of this relationship haha!

And of course, seeing her side with Yohan & Gaon for a short while (because seeing her team up with them all along the way could’ve been a little ooc) would have been dope. Her arresting Juk Chang while the two of them stop the gang was the closest thing we had to their teamwork ;;

Among the drama’s main focuses (the self-pity of the powerful and the never-ending cycle of their greed, the power displays it ensues which come in many forms in the system’s game), the conception of justice was developed all along the drama. It would have been really interesting to see whether Soohyun’s conception of justice could have changed in her own way!

And professor Min’s potential manipulation of Soohyun!!! Some scenes on their interactions could have been nice to see and explain why she focused solely on Yohan, the only side of the whole story she knew! Her reporting to the professor about her investigation (and him feeling she got too close to the truth) would have made sense because, as she saw Gaon growing apart from her as he was getting closer to the Kangs (especially since she saw him interact with Elijah when they invited her to the café, like Sunah saw how Gaon fit in their family at the dinner scene), she would’ve wanted to protect him without him knowing because she knew it’d have hurt him. It could have paralleled Gaon’s reports on Yohan to the professor at the beginning of the drama. And that could have explained (aside from the whole love triangle dynamics they had) her reluctance to tell Gaon Yohan was the one who told her his whereabouts when he was in danger in ep. 13 ; this scene also was one of the only moments addressing the lack of communication in their relationship. Seeing her feeling confused over Yohan could have been interesting!

(This also got me wondering whether in the script, Yohan’s injury was ever addressed.)

Also, i’m curious about her family, if the script mentions something about them: did they know Gaon?

About the loveline between Gaon and Soohyun: while the friendship could have stayed as is (it already felt pretty genuine in my opinion and strong friendships also deserve to be portrayed in stories), i’m convinced this drama wanted to set Gaon as the center of a subtext love & morality triangle between Soohyun and Yohan (and K and Sunah on Yohan’s part). I think i would’ve appreciated Gaon and Soohyun’s loveline so much more if they developed it more! And it had to develop in the very same episode she died: apart from the confession and kiss scene (i’m curious about the scene’s description in the script), the flashback of their moments, seen from Gaon’s pov, came just right in to ‘explain’ it!

Of course it wasn’t the main focus of the story and there was already so much happening, but their new relationship development and her death almost had no impact on me even if it was set as a turning point for Gaon (and K for Yohan, as a cement to their respective decision to fight the system and how they would do it), and it made me really really sad! Of course it was a plot device (and i now wonder what would’ve happened if she or K wasn’t dead), but if it was bound to happen, the emotional impact was lessened!

Jinjoo’s character development and her relationship with Sunah happened really really fast, and i wonder how the script describes it!

Sunah’s involvement with the juvenile care center!!! Her scene at the hospital left me really sad.

(Also, on the love plot, Gaon and Yohan jealousy bits weren’t used later as an expression of their envy towards the other’s status/life/etc. and were actually directed to people outside ie. Sunah/K/Soohyun in the plot, which makes me think they really wanted to set it as a love triangle!)

ABOUT SUNAH’S DEATH. I feel really really conflicted on this point. Her story was a parallel to CKH (and of course Yohan, i’ll talk about it below): two women — coming from totally opposite backgrounds — climbing their way up by their own means in this power circle. And despite all their accomplishments unnoticed (because they were the ones seeing through their plans while the others were mainly seen tearing each other into pieces), they could still be ruthlessly ejected from this world any day, part of it because they were belittled as women all the same, and chose to end her life on her own accord, still having agency over it.

As someone else pointed it out, it also acts as a « poetic » retribution for her murder of Soohyun and K. BUT her exiting the scene in some other way staying alive could have contrasted with CKH’s suicide (especially since she overthrew the president who was the only one on her side getting in her way and even killed him in the end). Especially in a show that deals about how the justice can be carried out!

Of course, Yohan and Sunah were a foil to each other in their respective fights and traumatic past: the drama showed us how having someone to reach out to and protect (Elijah, Isaac and Gaon to Yohan ; Soohyun, Yohan and Elijah to Gaon) can become a driving force. Sunah, despite thinking this could be a weakness, also longed for companionship (from Yohan mainly, but also from Jaehee), and had no one to stop her crossing the line and preserve her from herself and the world. At least someone hearing her story, staying by her side and trying to understand her.

Each time she said ‘can you be a little nicer to me?’ to Yohan made me feel for her (and also that one call with Jaehee), it was the only cries of loneliness she silently let out!

On a totally random note, i would have loved to see her interact more with Gaon (especially by the end of ep. 15, when Yohan was arrested)!

The story gladly didn’t end Yohan’s traumatic past and growth in death, but what about Sunah? In any case, Sunah was a really good and complex character, i enjoyed her character!

What about Jaehee? How did she react to Sunah’s death???

What about CKH’s family after her death???

I would have loved to hear more about Sunah’s plans as well! Scenes where she would play with Gaon for example (in Yohan’s presence or not, like at the photoshoot)!

(This comment above foreshadowed, along with the dinner scene in ep. 11, she used him all along!)

Her involvement behind the scenes was only exposed in ep. 15 but i wanted to know more about her (motivations aside from her focus on Yohan, what did she plan to do before finding out a look-alike to Isaac, ...)! Given the elements in the plot, i get the idea she planned this whole business with the foundation first to reach the top and wanted to bring Yohan up with her (eg. leading the foundation or becoming the president) or down without her along the way, because she wanted his companionship. Maybe the script expands on it more? Did she really believe in the Dream Home project? Because as we saw her speech in the juvenile care center and her strong reaction to the youth being harmed in these schemes, i believe she kinda wanted to protect them as the best revenge on her past, because nobody could do it for her?

THE ENDING SCENE. The ending was pretty good and didn’t give us an all-out tragedy, so i’m really glad! I still can’t believe Gaon was ready to blow his life away once he learnt Yohan’s death AND wanted to die with him (falsely) realizing Yohan wouldn’t change his mind, dead set on his decision (no pun intended!). And Yohan’s reaction to this ............... Now, their last scene is left to the viewers’ interpretation, but it felt to me like a new beginning to Yohan and Gaon’s relationship! As it was already said by many people on tumblr, Yohan wasn’t sure if Gaon would still be by his side despite it all, and he didn’t expect Gaon to feel this way. They’ll definitely meet again, it’s a promise of more in the future (especially Yohan’s nod, on the verge of tears and Gaon’s two relieved/endeared smiles, full of forgiveness). Gaon will join his new world once he’s done or they’ll come back to him once Elijah’s recovered.

And this game of hide and seek/hunt reflected their relationship development: Yohan felt unattainable at first, but he chased after him in the maze that was his devilish game, symbolized by the crowd, chasing him motivated by his suspicion, curiosity, anger and hate, disbelief and disappointment, empathy, worry, affection, desperation and love, until he finally reached him and they understood each other among all the crowd, living metaphorically in the same time, facing each other on the same (ground) level.

(A scene in the first episode, Gaon seeing a maze of Yohan’s reflections, maybe symbolizing he could not see through his facade in the beginning, being an enigma to him at first sight ; the choice of the reflections in the mirrors through the drama is interesting and reflects the story: depending on the angles, a story can hold as many meanings as there are points of view, the complete image surfacing once everybody’s story is told)

(Just like how, in ep. 4, Yohan shows Gaon the wicked system right under their noses, Gaon’s enraged and confused gaze directed right at Yohan after they all block his view by clinking glasses ; Yohan hoped he would understand what lies beneath but Gaon understands it fully through his own past in ep. 7-8)

(The crowd is cleared from their/our view in the final scene, leaving the two of them facing each other without any obstacle/reflection on their path)

Gaon kept Yohan’s watch all the time even in moments of doubt, sorrow and rage (the best PPL in drama history so far haha), Yohan finally got to Gaon and entered his world as Soohyun did, reaching out when he needed it the most, to stop him doing something he would regret deeply. It was symbolized by the scar he got on his left hand from preventing Gaon from stabbing him (that’s also why he caresses his scar in a bittersweet way, lost in thoughts, reminding him of their last meeting).

As @i-guess-it-rains said + according to the BTS’ editing (it passed off as a joke but i can’t erase it from my brain now haha), the way the scene where Yohan defused Gaon’s bomb was framed looked at the same time like Yohan was also carefully handling Gaon’s heart (the bomb countdown clock radiating a red glow on his chest), on the verge of exploding. Now i have The Nights lyrics in my head haha (« My heart is going back to you, i just don’t know »)

On another note, i realized that in ep. 12, after Gaon left, he’s seen trying to call Soohyun in order to reach for her since their last confrontation, but right before, his finger glides over his contact, hesitating on Yohan’s contact before choosing to call Soohyun.

While in ep. 8, he only reaches out to Soohyun after his breakdown in the prison yard (without thinking to call Yohan because he was in the core of his doubts and pain at that time and needed space to reflect on all the events):

And it parallels to Sunah attempting to reach out to Jaehee in her loneliness at the top, hesitating before deciding to call her.

Now i hope TDJ will be on Netflix! It’d be very nice to get to watch the drama in high quality and have more people to see it!

I heard it got a webtoon adaptation so i also look forward to it once it will be translated!

A SECOND SEASON? When i first saw the ending, i thought it got wrapped up nicely and didn’t « need » another season, but it also left some parts open and laid out a new background for further developments (the system repeats itself but in another form, Yohan leaves the scene with his signature smile, maybe up to something else again, saying metaphorically or irl to Gaon he’ll come back if he doesn’t do well), kinda like Stranger/Forest of Secrets s1 or The Guest ending (the corruption doesn’t end there). I also heard it got high viewing rates in SK, so maybe it will be taken into account? And well, i’ll miss the cast so i would welcome the idea haha

THE SOUNDTRACK. The whole OST was stellar (and their titles are on point really!)! Getting to hear it without voices or noise over and with my headphones on made me realize it was even more beautiful! Because I Have You, Warmth That Melts Loneliness and If Only… are the end of me (especially If Only aaaaaaa)! Don’t get me started on Enemy of Truth’s title to the OST playing for the church fire because it’s devastating ;;;

If Only’s title … It leaves us filling in the blank space, the dots to Gaon’s thoughts when he learns about Yohan’s past and how it impacts him to this day.

The 4 songs were amazing (there’s also Different from the Outside but i still didn’t get its lyrics). Tempest was definitely etched in my mind as TDJ’s main theme haha And The Nights was my favorite!

➔ Tempest was Yohan’s iconic theme and depicted his lonely path to revenge after the tragic events in his life, and his (fated) encounter with Gaon, how deeply it will change him in this journey in ways he didn’t expect. It perfectly introduces (with Chet Faker and Flume’s Drop the game) and concludes the drama!

➔ What you gonna do was THE revenge epic song making everyone revel in the ‘bad guys’ despair and Yohan’s badass moves!

➔ The Nights felt like it was both Yohan and Gaon’s theme and Gaon’s sorrow after Soohyun’s death: at first i thought it was only Yohan’s, but his revenge and the last episodes proved me wrong! The song’s lyrics mirrored themselves (‘my/your night shines on you/me’), as if a complete understanding between Yohan and Gaon was found on their dark road. Yohan’s night shines on Gaon: Yohan’s broken past and all his misunderstood or hidden sides, his dedication to Elijah. Yohan’s rage (almost wrath since the biblical and god symbolism are there haha) and desire to take the inique system down waked Gaon’s own rage, buried deep inside, and made him move forward too. Gaon’s night shines on Yohan: all the time he spent with the Kangs, Gaon’s deep empathy and understanding, helping him reconnect with his niece, their dinners at night, his rage exploding when the truth about his parents was revealed, his desperation on the last two episodes (in ep. 15, seeing Gaon’s realization everything was a lie and Yohan was innocent, and in ep. 16, Gaon wanting to die by his side). Gaon’s night also shined on Soohyun, who wanted to protect him with all she got each time she saw him crumbling down.

There was still light on their dark road (which looks like a callback to Nightmare’s lyrics, « Save me from myself / Save me from this darkness that has lost its light »).

➔ Nightmare felt like it was Yohan and Sunah’s theme. When it last played when Sunah’s death happened on screen, it left me speechless (and if i remember correctly, the ‘save me from myself’ bit was played right when she shot herself … o u c h)!

#the devil judge #tvn drama #my ramblings

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medea10 · 3 years

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My Review of O Maidens in Your Savage Season

How did I get into this anime? This time, I didn’t rely on the randomizer to pick out a random anime licensed by Sentai Filmworks. I wanted to choose a small-sized anime with not that many episodes to its name. Probably because I spent a good year and a half on Rinne that all of these Sentai picks have been short series! So I went with one that came out not too long ago.

Kazusa Onodera belongs to the literature club at her school. Seems decent enough, right? These girls read heavily, sexualized books. And as high schoolers, the word sex is taboo and intriguing all at the same time. Each of the girls in the literature club have their own view on the subject, mostly border-lining on wanting to know more and experiencing it soon. Aside from that, Kazusa is noticing that her childhood friend, Izumi Norimoto has changed since they were kids and other girls are noticing him. This, putting Kazusa in an awkward position of avoiding him when he’s around other girls! Half of it is because jealous bitches glare at her if she gets too close to Izumi. The other half is due to the fact that Kazusa is starting to notice her friend as maybe something more.

One day, the girls in the club get word of one of their favorite authors writing a new book. This one about someone writing a bucket list due to dying! One of the girls (Niina Sugawara) suggests sex. Ever since then, all of the other girls are noticing so many new things in their world. Certain words sound dirty, certain objects can be considered phallic, and boys are starting to look fuckable. And our girl Kazusa gets a heavy dose of reality when she gives her neighbor Izumi some dinner.

She walks upstairs to find Izumi jerking off to some hardcore porn on his computer.

So yeah, coming of age story up in here!

But it isn’t just Kazusa learning about the trials of love and sex. Momoko deals with her own troubles involving sexuality. Sugawara is torn between a past love and a new love. Rika is discovering love for the first time in her life. And Hongo wants to learn more about sex in order to become a great author. All five of these girls deal with that difficult time of adolescence with first love and the curiosity of “ess eee ex”.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This is licensed by Sentai Filmworks. As of this date and time, an English cast has been announced, but by the looks of things, nothing has been dubbed yet. I am a little excited to hear several new voices in the cast and a few familiar ones including Brittney Karbowski and Natalie Rial. Many of the Japanese voice actors have been around for a while and I’m kinda familiar with. It’s just that I haven’t spent a great deal hearing them in my day-to-day rotations. But I can’t complain with the cast! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kazusa is played by Hiyori Kouno (known for Phil on The Promised Neverland)

*Momoko is played by Momo Asakura (known for Ayumi on Charlotte, Iroha on Magia Record, Sumi on Sakura Trick, Manako on Monster Musume, Nagisa on Kaguya-sama, and Lamy on Fairy Tail)

*Rika is played by Sumire Uesaka (known for Dekomori on Chuunibyo, Nanase on In/Spectre, and Anastasia on Idolm@ster: Cinderella Girls)

*Hongo is played by Tomoyo Kurosawa (known for Miria on Idolm@ster: Cinderella Girls)

*Sugawara is played by Chika Anzai (known for Mina on Attack on Titan, Nana on My Roommate is a Cat, Maki on Sakura Quest, and Young Kamui on Gintama)

ENGLISH CAST: *Kazusa is played by Brittney Karbowski (known for Selim/Pride on FMA: Brotherhood, Misaka on Railgun/Index, Black Star on Soul Eater, Wendy on Fairy Tail, Dekomori on Chuunibyo, and Hisako on Food Wars)

*Momoko is played by Juliet Simmons (known for Yukika on My Love Story and Mayumi on Food Wars)

*Rika is played by Avery Smithhart

*Hongo is played by Elissa Cuellar

*Sugawara is played by Natalie Rial (known for Rui on Domestic Girlfriend)

THIS NEEDS TO PLAY ON REPEAT: Can we watch Creepy McPedofuck get socked in the face on loop?

Yes!

It goes without saying that I hated this fucker. I heavily enjoyed him getting knocked the fuck out. And I will go in further detail with the shipping category.

SHIPPING: As this is a coming of age anime with girls in high school just discovering love, lust, sex, and all that good shit, we’ve got some stuff to cover in this category.

*Kazusa x Izumi: The childhood friend scenario! Yeah, these two were quite inseparable as children, but as they grew older, Izumi started to grow somewhat of a popularity streak with the girls at school and as a result, Kazusa found herself inferior compared to these catty bitches. That and these girls are jealous if they see Kazusa even speaking to Izumi.

Throughout the series, Kazusa had to deal with jealous bitches telling her to back off and Kazusa’s friend Sugawara having growing feelings for Izumi every time she’s with him. It seemed like not a big deal in the earlier episodes. But once we see what Sugawara is getting back at, it gets downright love-triangle-ish. It got so crazy that both girls proclaimed their love for Izumi in an open setting during a school festival at the same time. I know Izumi wasn’t going to reciprocate Sugawara’s feelings, but when he started saying things that are friend-zone material, I got worried. I mean, Kazusa and Izumi were childhood friends and there’s been a strain in that due to hormonal changes. I don’t want to bring out the tired old excuse of Izumi being a boy and he’s a dumbass, but I kinda have to. Yes dude likes Kazusa, but he also likes Sugawara and both for different reasons. And when it comes to Sugawara, it’s a sexual attraction. Boy, you are not going to get your cake and pie here.

Now I’ve been in Kazusa’s position before of wanting to be in a relationship with a best friend. A lot of the time, it does not go well and can strain the friendship you once had making it hard to go back if there’s a crap-up. By the looks of things at the end of the anime, these two seem to be on a sure-footing in their relationship.

*Rika x Shun: Rika has always been seen as an outsider to many of the main cliques of school. But it wasn’t until Shun’s kind words in class one day that changed something inside of Rika. But it doesn’t stop there with this boy! He writes fifty pages of “I Love Yous”, he insists on wanting to be with Rika in any class activity, and goes out of his way to ask her out (which she eventually accepts). And Rika with these new feelings doesn’t really know how to handle it as this is the first time she’s experienced these feelings outside of reading them in a novel. But I gotta say, their confession in front of the school was just downright too cute for words. It definitely deserves a round of applause.

*Hongo x Milo-sensei: Oh dear God, not this again! I don’t know whether to think Hongo is just using this guy for her novel or if she’s really developing something for her teacher. Milo-sensei seems to have a thing for his teaching colleague. But does this fool have a side-thing for one of his students as well? I’m getting Marmalade Boy and Domestic Girlfriend vibes here. These two go beyond a lot of boundaries throughout the series including panty flashes and a spontaneous trip to a motel. This ship I’m not fully on board with! But this is still leaps and bound ahead of what I’m about to discuss next.

*Sugawara x Saegusa: Oh for fuck’s sake! Everything about this sounds so wrong, Domestic Girlfriend is demanding an apology for all the bad things said about that. Even Izumi finds this guy pedophilish. An old acting coach has a thing for little girls and finds Sugawara pure when she’s at a young age and Sugawara eventually grows to like him. It’s just that when she figured it out, she’s a young teenager in high school and according to Saegusa, she’s too old.

Too old?! Fool! You are clearly in your late 40s at the earliest. And Sugawara is at least 14 and SHE’S TOO OLD?! I’m about to slap the glasses off your dumbass-face and call Chris Hansen because this is too much. Sugawara, please for the love of all that’s cream pie, stop going after this creep and making him jealous with trying to get with Izumi! You CAN do better! And also, you’re really fucking with the Izumi x Kazusa ship. But more importantly, you CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS CREEPY FUCK!

…

And now it’s time to talk about Momoko. I thought that this anime was going to be all about these girls falling in love with different boys. At first, it looked like that with a boy named Satoshi coming in the picture saying he remembers Momoko when they were kids. But then, we get a surprise from Momoko when she finds girls more attractive (particularly Sugawara). Okay, I didn’t see that coming. And frankly, I’d prefer that or just about anything else to that old-ass actor with a little girl complex. But with Momoko, I feel like she’s going to be the one character that doesn’t get to be with someone in the end. Kazusa gets Izumi, Rika gets Shun, and Hongo gets Milo-sensei. Momoko does come out to Sugawara, but I’m unsure if this is one-sided or if Sugawara ends up together with her.

ENDING: All five girls are learning that love and sex come with a mixed bag of everything. Sometimes everything works out, sometimes things fall apart, sometimes actions have consequences, and sometimes a dick comes in and ruins everything.

Because of the blooming relationship of Kazusa and Izumi, Sugawara got jealous and did some risqué things on a train with Izumi. Hongo takes things to another level when she goes to a cheap hotel with Milo-sensei and she was ready to take the bull by the horns. Yeah, she was doing most of this for her novel, but this escalated into full-blown infatuation of her teacher. And Rika was feeling pretty good around school now that she has a boyfriend and is on speaking terms with one of the popular girls. Too bad Rika’s friend is never coming back to school because she’s knocked up! See, consequences!

The high school administration was upset by some recent incidents including a student getting pregnant. But what set them over the edge were reports of Rika and Shun outside of a love hotel. But as we all know, they did no act of sex. They were spying on Hongo and Milo-sensei. But you can’t tell these prudes that. They made an example of Rika and Shun by expelling them and putting out an updated P.D.A. rule at school. Not even Milo-sensei confessing to being at the love hotel could calm this storm with the heads of the school. So the girls of the literature club decide to take drastic measures.

They shut the school down, hold Milo-sensei hostage, and demand that Rika and Shun are reinstated at school. I wasn’t expecting this anime to go down the route of The Simpson’s classic episode Grade School Confidential, but here we are.

Yeah, the principal and vice principal had a Groundskeeper Willie attitude to their fight and left them to cool down for the night. This night in the school things kinda went a little crazy, particularly when Shun and Izumi came inside. Especially when you have Izumi admit that he likes Kazusa, but is sexually attracted to Sugawara. Then, you have Momoko irritated that all Sugawara is interested in is Izumi and she’s got this huge crush on her. Add to the thick layer we got already, Shun opens is dumbass mouth to mention he has kissed girls before Rika. Oh, dude. Shut up! But the girls found a way to fix things…sorta! A few episodes back, the girls had a pillow fight to let out their frustration. So, they’re going to play a simple game where there seems to be a happy conclusion for all involved. Rika and Shun share a cute forehead kiss and Shun admits his love for Rika once more. Momoko and Sugawara share a moment. As for Izumi and Kazusa, they both admitted to feeling anxious and uncomfortable jumping from friends to boyfriend/girlfriend. So it looks like they’re going to stay together. Sure looks like it in the epilogue. But we’ll get there soon enough.

After a full night of revelations, the principal and vice principal return to school the following morning to the entire building covered in protest paper to reinstate Rika and Shun and to get rid of the P.D.A. ban. I guess things worked out since a lot of students saw this and the principal is about as useless as a Band-Aid on a toothache.

At the end of the episode, we see the cast from what looks to be one year later as Rika and Shun are in college now. Rika’s friend and former classmate had her baby. Milo-sensei and Hongo are holding down the literature club with a few new members. It also looks as though they’re still in a relationship (possibly getting married later). I am unsure if Momoko and Sugawara ended up together or not. But at least they’re still friends. And it seems as though Izumi and Kazusa made it through that awkward time of adolescence and they seemed to have stayed together.

This was a fun romp! I think we all remember a time in high school where we were young and naïve about the concept of love and even sex. I can’t say there was one particular character I connected to in this series. I think I’ve been in all of the girl’s positions at one point or another. I’ve been friend-zoned like Kazusa. There was a boy I wasn’t into that wouldn’t leave me alone like Momoko. I was curious to a point where it did affect my own writing like Hongo. I had jealous fits over a friend’s boyfriend much like Sugawara. And once I got in a relationship, I felt as awkward as Rika. See, I’ve been all five at one point.

It’s a confusing time being an adolescent. Along with the changes in your body, there’s that gnawing pressure of noticing blossoming feelings for some person. And you’re not sure if you should talk to them, kiss them, or rip off their clothes in the heat of passion. Not sure if everything from the manga was covered. I’d like to assume it was due to the fact that both the anime series and manga were short. And I think all viewers can agree that…Can we see that gross dude get punched again?

Oh yeah, that’s so delicious.

So if you’re ready to re-watch possible flashbacks of your awkward high school moments again, check out this anime.

If you would like to watch O Maidens in Your Savage Season, all 12 episodes are available to watch on HI-DIVE.

Okay, what’s my next Sentai Filmworks anime?

*gasps*

In association with Pony Canyon & TBS!

What the…?! THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THEY’RE FROM K-ON!

#anime review #o maidens in your savage season #kazusa onodera #rika sonezaki #niina sugawara #araburu kisetsu no otomedomo yo #momoko sudou #hitoha hongo

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wehatepaparazzi · 4 years

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Nina Dobrev.

Let’s just give it up one time for the girl that carried her show on her back. How many different characters did she play? She deserves a round of applause and a martini as she is quite the partier…

So let’s jump in and go back to the early years. During TVD years, after her and Ian had separated – someone that worked on the sets of TVD for a few seasons reported that Ian was a major asshole and was incredibly petty towards Nina. He created a really toxic environment on set, rolling his eyes during any scene they had together and would go stiff if they had to interact. Nina couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Ian cheats on Nina numerous times with Julianne Hough. He then gets drunk and confesses to Nina which caused their breakup. Julianne and Nina partied a lot together, and apparently had gotten over it because in Sept 2013, Nina started sleeping with Julianne’s brother, Derek. Also, a shit bag. Come Oct they were at a party together, Derek was wasted and started screaming at Nina because she didn’t kiss him right? He proceeded to kiss several women, oddly, Nina didn’t seem to mind. The relationship only lasted until Oct, blogs said it was because of schedules and time difference, but I’m pretty sure its because Nina realized Derek and his sister are scum sucking rodents. A short funny story: in May 2014, Derek hooked up with Nikki. She might as well just date Nina at this point.

ENTER Orlando Bloom.

Nina dated Orlando at the same time he was fighting with Justin Bieber and also sleeping with the ex wife of the guy Orlando’s ex wife (Miranda Kerr) cheated on Orlando with. All of this is what Nina dealt with. Nina and Orlando take a break, he somehow convinces her to give him another chance, they get a dog together, and like two weeks later Orlando cheats again, randomly dumps her and just leaves her.

In Oct 2014, Nina and Julianne ran into each other at an event which ended with Nina calling Julianne “evil” followed by a long list of not so family-friendly adjectives in front of it. But then by Jan 2015, Nina was either hooking up with Derek again or he wanted to, because she was again seen with Julianne. Y i k e s.

Somewhere in there, Ian gets with Nikki… who only went after Ian because she wanted a boyfriend that would make her famous again. July 2014, at an event Nikki and Nina started screaming at each other pointing fingers and Nikki was talking all kinds of bullshit, which was mostly false and came from a bitter Ian. I hate when women look stupid over men, more than once. Ian married Nikki in April 2015, yet still texted Nina telling her how unhappy he is and he misses her, apparently Nina was uninterested, however in May 2015, Ian and Nina got together to hash out things left unsaid and ended up having some ex sex, going about the rest of their day like how it used to be. When Nina announced she’d be making a return to TVD, Nikki was not happy and would show up on set all the time to cause tension, eventually being booted off the set.

As TVD was coming to an end, Nina wanted to make sure she wasn’t left in the dust “like the rest of the CW cast” so she found herself another way to make ends meet. The girl has zero issues with escorting. She began yachting. (If you’re unfamiliar – google is your friend.) Although, officially she was in Cannes (for those of us that wondered how the hell Nina Dobrev made it to Cannes Film Festival) for her partnership with Dior, but she was definitely doing other “business” as well. It’s so well known (among her Hollywood peoples) that two other TVDU Cast came to her, for “advice.” Yes, Phoebe Tonkin who wasn’t getting paid well, very little to be completely honest – followed right behind Nina and started yachting with a complete billionaire. (After Paul, of course.) I believe it was around June 2019, you see a noticeably good amount of photos with Nina and “friends” on expensive yachts and helicopters with no tagged sponsors. Welcome to the Rich life of yachting.

Nina had a role in Flatliners, and had a backup plan incase the movie flopped. Her plan: Dubai. She ran into Lindsay Lohan and about 7 months later it was reported that during this trip – Lilo was actually terrible to Nina because she thought Nina was after her man. She wasn’t, but yikes.

Dec 2019, Film Producer Mohammad Al Turki who recruits several actors/actresses. Apparently he finds some damaging information they don’t want revealed and then uses it against them to do more things they also don’t want revealed. Going from Zac Efron to Michelle Rodriguez to Kristen Stewart who he would have his guests view, grope and ogle over and Nina actually fell into this mess becoming another one of his objects. Hollywood is sick yall, I’m telling you.

Nina used to be an extremely heavy smoker (I love her voice) but I believe in 2019, she kicked that habit as well as her eating disorder. She’s looking a lot more healthier, thicker. Just better all around. Now if only she can find some actual friends and a man that will treat her right. We’re rooting for you girl, We’re all rooting for you.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/05/cannes-escorts

#nina dobrev

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rndyounghowze · 3 years

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Enough Plays to End Gun Violence Hits It’s Target

We want to dedicate this review to Micah Tennant who died needlessly last year in a senseless act of violence. May we work towards a world where children may never fear something like this again. #enoughplays

By Dana and Ricky Young-Howze

@enoughplays @milesquarethtr

Venmo: @rndyounghowze

Review 172

I’d like to start this review with a thank you to the Mile Square Theatre. We were supposed to see the show Monday but the Google takedown ate our ticket. Fortunately Mile Square Theatre informed us that the show is available until the 21 of December. Even better because now you can all see this important series. Gun violence is an issue very near to Ricky and my heart. We also love when teen playwrights get a chance to have their work seen on such a large scale. That’s why we fell in love with this project.

We decided to talk about something that all the plays had in common rather than building up or tearing certain young playwrights down. Ricky and I have tried to teach playwriting to teens this age and I have been a reader in youth ten minute play festivals. However we haven't seen plays that were this advanced in a while. Very powerful, polished, and professional. Our hat is off to them and the support system they had to bring this to life.

The corps of young adult and adult actors both had that kind of energy that we would have come to love and expect in Zoom theatre. This is energy that breaks through the screen and creates POWER that can reach audiences thousands of miles away. All of these performers deserve one great big round of applause and I would expect performances of this level from any professional group.

A colleague of ours said that it is really hard to write an “anti” play such as anti gun violence because anyone who would take the “pro” stance isn’t going to come and see the play to be so moved. However these kids are speaking from a very authentic and raw place in their lives. They are not voicing opinions or taking a political stance; they are telling us the terror they have to live in their personal lives. If that personal turns out to be political then so be it. Each play resonates with nuggets of personal truths; the school halls, the classrooms, the neighborhoods, the adults who don’t listen. Enough: Plays Against Gun Violence gives a glimpse into things teens may be uncomfortable sharing otherwise. We should be listening.

These plays were so genuine that they were really hard to review. They were so raw, honest, and important you could hear stories just like this over coffee on the news everyday. Why is that normal to us? Why have we allowed it to be that way? Let us learn the lessons of these kids and the whole team behind this series. May we soon have a world where this is never acceptable as normal again. Let’s tell the world that we’ve had enough.

You still have some time to see these plays here. It’s definitely the kind of series that is as enlightening as it is entertaining.

*****A Word From Our Sponsors*****

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#theatre #nj #theatrelives #nj travels #Micah Tennant #enough plays to end gun violence #gun violence #gun control #theatre review #newjersey #mile square theatre #hobokennj

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suhmayzooka · 4 years

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cursed child broadway, feb. 23, 2020

third time seeing cc in three months for one reason: my sister is, in her words, “in love with joey labrasca” (karl). she thinks he’s absolutely perfect. this past week i’ve endured her talking about how hot he is. i mean, i’ve gotten quite a bit of good lily luna material for my fics now, but at what expense? did i need to know that joey’s (very mild) acne made him look handsomer? did i need to know about how deep his eyes are? did I?

i teased her about what she’d do if he wasn’t on, and she said she’d be so upset.

we get to the theatre, i look at the cast…and james romney was karl.

my sister was shocked. the love of her life, who most likely has forgotten about her existence, wasn’t there for what looks to be our final time seeing the year 2 cast. she was devastated.

we also got to see antoinette robinson as hermione and tom patrick stephens as ron! and sarita amani nash was myrtle!! and kimberly dodson as polly!!

james!karl was great and i will bombard my sister with as much james romney content as i can in order to piss her off further :)

patrick du laney was the sorting hat and aaron bartz was the station master. we actually saw aaron walking into the theatre as we waited outside for part 2. he definitely has the draco swagger.

anyway let’s get to the good stuff!

~james snyder as harry! great as usual. i don’t think he did much differently than last time, or if he did it wasn’t very noticeable.

~diane davis as ginny – same w james. i think she held on to albus longer when they hug in godric’s hollow this time?

~jonno roberts as draco: okay this guy singlehandedly inspired me to start a fic back in december (that has…….yet to be finished………) with how his draco and bubba’s scorpius behaved and this was no exception. idk whether his mic got caught on something or if he was really bringing it all out, but when he shoves scorpius’s head against his desk in the dark world, he GROWLED the “you do NOT use her name in vain” line ???? i’ve never heard him say it like that, it’s usually more of a hiss. idk how to describe how he said it other than “growl.” almost like an animal.

then when he said “do it safely, i can’t lose you too” he’s looking directly at scorpius. it’s different from how i’m used to seeing him and closer how i picture him saying it; usually he’s looking away, like he’s afraid of showing vulnerability to scorpius. but here, with him looking directly at him, and said with so much emotion and love, even in such a dark place…oOOF

he refused to let go of scorpius when they met again in godric’s hollow. my heart…..always one arm around scorpius’s shoulders, or one hand on his chest, as scorpius clings on to him.

~kimberly!polly SMILED and giggled when she stepped in blood? “oh, potter, i’ve got blood on my shoe!” *delighted* and then as the staircase rolled away, she turned on her stomach to gaze down at scorpius, grinning flirtatiously. this is my second time seeing her as polly, but from what i remember, katherine!polly wasn’t as sadistic in the dark au as she was. i personally prefer kimberly!polly.

~sarita!myrtle!! like w kimberly!polly this is my second time seeing sarita!myrtle and i don’t really remember much about lauren!myrtle to compare, but sarita!myrtle was hilarious. she got a round of applause just for appearing. “girls….*turns around, stares directly @ albus* AND BOYS” *albus turns around, confused, as if she’s talking to someone behind him* UGHHH she’s so good and she’ll absolutely kill it as (main) polly, i can feel it.

~this was my first time seeing jack pravda as young harry! his voice is deeper than zell’s, and he was so adorably confused in the graveyard scene. “why are there so many flowers?”

~antoinette!hermione was a lot less playful than jenny!hermione. she does try for comedic effect, but she’s a bit more serious overall. she was so scary in the first timeline! when she waves her wand to dismiss the class and she’s standing all alone, she looks out with such a distant, despairing expression, then composes herself immediately.

~tom!ron was very funny! again, my issue with ron in cc comes down to how he was written. he may have been relegated to shitty comic relief (why……is one of the first things he says……a fart joke…..?), but it’s up to the actors do what they can to flesh out some semblance of a likeable character from the bs that the script gave us. and tom!ron was great!! he’s not as…dopey? dorky? as matt!ron, who’s very funny but a bit—childish? i guess? tom!ron feels more like an adult who still has a childish sense of humor, if that makes sense.

~ROMIONE. watching a new take on romione was like falling in love w romione all over again. tom/antoinette was a very loving pair. jenny/matt tease each other a lot more, but tom/antoinette are more tactile. their kiss was so sweet

~there’s hardly any love for sara farb’s delphi for some reason. i’m not sure why; her shift from delphi diggory to delphi riddle is so chilling. delphi diggory has a high pitched voice and is really goofy around albus. scorpius absolutely hates her lmao. as soon as she switches, her voice drops to a low growl and she’s downright terrifying. i’m sad to see her go!

~WILL CARLYON. is it possible to fall in love with the portrayal of a character in a handful of scenes? he’s got like five lines total but oh my god. one thing a lot of people note about nicholas!albus is the way he’s so obviously a fourteen-year-old child. will’s james sirius potter is SUCH a thirteen-year-old in the opening scene…it’s somewhat disconcerting watching this very-obviously-twenty-something-year-old man flap his arms going “WATCH OUTTT FOR THE THESTTRRAAAAAAALS” but it works? it’s believable?? he’s so close with lily luna. this is my third time seeing him and every time he pretends to pounce on her and hug her during the thestral line i fall in love?? ginny scolds him and he is sheepish, but he won’t stop making the troll face at albus. “SLITHERING SLYTHERIN STOP WITH YOUR DITHERING” *smacks albus*

~yeah i promised jsp content and i’m fucking delivering

~he’s sO excited watching albus get sorted. when the hat goes “SLYTHERIN” he’s absolutely shocked. he’s confused. he just stares at albus, confused, until yann (jonathan gordon, who once again gives us a delightfully dislikable yann) says some shit and james just turns to him and swats his hand at him. he genuinely looked ready to fight yann. i couldn’t tell but i think he tells him to stop?? it was hard to hear but his mouth definitely moved, i think to tell yann to cut it out.

~the scene with the students eavesdropping on mcgonagall’s meeting with the parents. oh my god i don’t think he did anything that much differently than last time but i need to talk about this because i didn’t do it justice in my last recap.

~they sit on the stairs (iirc) top to bottom craig, yann, karl, rose, james. i’m gonna ignore craig, yann, and karl since there are some serious family feels going on w rose and james

~jsp and rose begin the scene smiling, snickering as they hear that albus and scorpius fucked up. “ahaha they got into deep shit” but then when they learn that they wrote rose and hugo (??whom??) out of time and then killed harry, their faces fall. james’s eyes become vacant, far-off as he learns what happened to his brother. his breathing becomes heavier and faster until he’s a few breaths from hyperventilating. he leans his forehead against the stairwell/banister and shakes his head, mouthing/whispering “no…no…”

~nadia brown’s rose is such a little shit but she’s so good in this scene. when she learns that she didn’t exist in the new timeline, she grabs james’s shoulder and he grabs her hand. they don’t let go for the rest of the scene.

~i’m like half convinced that will got the part because of his amazingly expressive eyebrows. i think my sister calls it “back row acting?” his eyebrows can probably be seen from the back row. after the mcgonagall scene is over he sits on the stairs, raising one eyebrow at rose and hermione, then goes back to reading the scroll.

~i didn’t mean for this to become a will carlyon fan account but he deserves it. according to nicholas he’s the biggest potterhead in the cast. he’s a ravenclaw. he can sing. he’s so fucking valid and i’m so glad he’s staying for year 3. he’s got two followers on youtube and one of them is me. please guys like no one talks about him and i’ll fill this niche. same with the lovely sarita. she’s so kind and so beautiful and so talented she can sing so well and she gives everything during wand dance listen i spent the beginning of this thing making fun of my sister for liking joey so much but sarita……..

~cc nyc said straight girl/lesbian solidarity

~anyway…

~nicholas podany as albus. so. Many. Tears. i didn’t realize this before but his whole body trembles when he cries?? i first noticed this when he and harry were in the slytherin common room. i was like “are his pajamas vibrating?? is this an optical illusion (they’re striped pajamas)???” no, his whole body was shaking with suppressed crying. once i noticed i couldn’t un-notice and this continued for the rest of the show.

~bubba weiler’s scorpius didn’t seem much different from usual? i could go on about him but….that’s what my unfinished fic is for……one day……….

~okay so this is where i elaborate on the scorbus moments that made me want to YEET myself off the roof of the theatre (if you had to make sense of my typos on discord: i am Sorry)

~the slytherin dorm scene: scorpius tickles albus to wake him up. he then makes himself comfortable on albus’s bed and won’t stop rubbing and patting his thigh.

~in addition to being austistic, bubba!scorp is bisexual (jon case would be proud) and here is PROOF: to flirt, bubba!scorpius leans against objects, sprawls his body out, plays with his hair, etc all extremely cheesy, greasy, suave moves. he blows a kiss to polly as he’s sprawled across the stairs. when he ROLLS down the stairs (looked painful…) to see rose at the end, he plays with his hair, shoots her a finger gun (further proof he’s bi), and lowers his voice. but the comparison i need to highlight is THIS: when he says rose smells like bread, (1) he leans against the suitcases, trying to look suave, and (2) his face is instant regret. he silently bends back and mouths “WHAT WHY BREAD?? WHAT??? WHY???” and now…when he delivers his “ENGORGIMPRESSED” line to albus, he (1) leans against the sink, (2) grins, lowering his voice, and when the pun doesn’t land, (3) his face immediately falls, instant regret, the literal definition of “oH MY GOD WHAT WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT” the same expression he had when rose wasn’t impressed. coincidence? i think NOT. he’s trying so hard to flirt but he has no idea how to interact w people im --

~delphi in the church: when the adults have all surrounded delphi with their magic in the center of the stage, albus, ginny, and scorpius are huddled together. scorpius is behind albus, clutching his shoulder and hand. albus breaks free for “SHE’S A MURDERER I’VE SEEN HER MURDER” (an underappreciated line imo) and scorpius just watches him, clearly wanting to help but not knowing how

~the final hug. my initial, endorphin-fueled reaction was, verbatim: “THE FUNAL HUG NSCWR SEEN IR LAST SO LLNG NEVER SAW NICJ HUG HIM BACK NOSES ALMOST TOYCHONF.” not even this is enough to convey my reaction to the final hug, but i’ll try my best to transcribe it.

scorpius: runs up the stairs, grabs albus into a hug

albus: stunned for a moment, then wraps his arms around scorpius’s shoulders and hugs him back, burying his face into the crook of scorpius’s neck. this is the first time i’ve seen him hug back, at least so fiercely. they stand there for a good 3-5 seconds, then albus says, quietly, “what’s this? i thought we didn’t hug.”

scorpius, pulling back but still close to albus: “i wasn’t sure whether we should…” *looks up at albus, literal inches from his face* “in this new version of us…” *more gazing into each other’s eyes for a few seconds*

albus: “well…you better ask rose if it’s the right thing to do…” he sounded unsure? not as playful as before?

scorpius: *stares at albus for a few seconds* “a..aaha………..yeah right!”

he turns around and runs down the stairs. albus goes “i’ll see you at dinner!” and scorpius turns around, smiles at him, and walks off, albus grinning and gazing so lovingly as he departs i’m gonna c r y

i can’t think of anything else to say about the show itself? but my sister has given me a lot of material so i’m gonna talk about what went on with her because it’s relevant to our stage door interactions.

as we ate, she described how she would rewrite cc. she has valid and absolutely invalid suggestions. she would keep the father/son issues, make scorbus canon, remove or rewrite rose, and rewrite delphi’s backstory (valid). she would remove the sorting hat and the dark timeline (not valid).

during the intermission between acts 3 and 4, we started looking through the playbill and she started gossiping/venting about how much she hates the people in her school’s theatre (valid, since they’re bullying assholes). i brought up a meme i sent her that i saw on twitter about how no high school theatre guys can sing, act, dance, and not be sexist. somehow this discussion went back to nicholas podany? she was like, “i’ve been listening to his songs and deep blue is a low-key bop.” i asked if she heard his most recent song, telling myself. she hadn’t and she immediately went to soundcloud to listen to it. her reaction was PRICELESS. she absolutely adored it. she was dancing in her seat, going “okay this is actually really good??” like ofc it is? i don’t recommend bad songs? she tried to replay it but then her data ran out and the lyric theatre wifi is shit so she got very upset. then the lights turned off and she reluctantly took out her earbuds.

there was a little girl (around 6-7ish, i’d say) in the very first row dressed as hermione for part one--complete with a doll and a broom. for part two she was wearing a hedwig costume that looked homemade! she was very adorable, and bubba waved hello to her when he came for the curtain call.

stage door:

~sarita came out first! we told her that this was our third time at the show and second time seeing her. i congratulated her on being cast as polly and she was so happy! dare i say…..loml

~tom and antoinette were so happy to have been the first cover romione we saw! tom was like “ah, you saw the best ron (himself)!” we were in front of a man from the uk who had seen the london show five times, and he and tom struck up a conversation about where they were from.

~nadia brown was so happy to see us! she didn’t remember us lmao but she’s so friendly

~edward james hyland (amos/dumbledore) was…politically campaigning?? the people in front of us were from vermont and he was like “ah…vermont…do you support bernie??” just like that. they were caught off guard but i think they gave an affirmative answer, and he was like “and if he doesn’t get the nomination…?” they were still caught off guard and he just went “you’ll vote blue, right…? cause it’s the right thing to do….?” idk i’m firmly liberal but i thought this was a weird place to get political but okay

~EVERYONE was telling nicholas podany about how much they love telling myself. he was telling the people in front of us about how it was mastered/mixed by solange’s producer(?) and my sister and i exchanged :0 looks. she was getting shy, but i was like “tell him! he’ll love to talk about it, i guarantee it!” because even though i produce 0 content, i *am* an artist and i *do* know that we artists love validation

~so he came to us and she started talking about his songs! we’re fortunate that it was a more rock-y song so we’re…able to sound like we know what we’re talking about lmao. growing up our mom would play us classical music (check out beethoven’s wig yo) and our dad would play us the ramones. one of my earliest memories was arguing with my sister (probably around 4 at the time) about the lyrics to “i wanna be sedated” ahh… (she was correct btw)

~(don’t argue with me the ramones may not be poets but they’re valid)

~i was right! he was SO excited to talk to us!! my sister complimented the song and the production. she said “i ADORE your new song!! it’s a high key bop!” and he broke into the BIGGEST smile. she was like “i’m gonna play it until i hate it” and he said something along the lines of “i was in the studio listening to it nonstop for 8(??) hours i can’t stand it.” he was talking about how he made the song with his “own scorpius” but i forgot who…he said scorpius and my mind blanked lmao. he’s brought this person up before in interviews so i can probably find it. she complimented the fact that it was different from his usual stuff and he told us about how he had a rock band in high school. @nick where tf is your rock content pls deliver

~i actually spoke this time and cut in to tell him about how she was trying to listen to it on repeat but the signal gave out. she was trying to tell me to shut up but it’s my legal duty as the older sister to embarrass her.

me: “I told her about your song during the intermission—”

her: “don’t!”

me: “no, nO, i told her and she was listening and then she ran out of data—”

him: “aaAa noo!”

her: “I listened to it!”

~then i told him that we loved seeing how he played albus and that we’re going to miss him, that we were going to see the cast change show but we couldn’t get tickets (i kindly left off the reason why), and he was so sweet about it *clenches heart* he told us how much he loves being able to experience this, that we’ll be so lucky to have james romney take over, etc etc i kinda wasn’t listening bc I was too emo, but I remember going “…but I don’t want to say goodbye…” and he just. gave me a sad look like “I know.” there was so much pity in his expression. why is he leaving us.

~the uk guy behind us was talking about how he’d seen the london year 3 and 4. nicholas was like “oh, joe and dom? yeah i’ve spoken to joe and dom—wait, no, i haven’t met dom? i know he has an impressive social media presence” and they started talking about how different actors bring different things to albus and how the show allows them to explore different aspects to their characters and he just…wasn’t making any of this any easier for me lmao i’m mourning the loss of nick!albus and it’s not even march

~i feel bad that we weren’t able to speak with fiona reid (petunia/umbridge) because nicholas was talking to us.

~jonno roberts. this was the first time i’ve interacted w him at sd. his draco has made such an impact on me, he’s my favorite actor in the show, and what do i say? what great words come out of my mouth? “hi you were great.” my sister KICKED me with her heeled boots. good thing i’m a lesbian because my doc martens protected my feet from the force of her anger.

~james snyder was enraptured in conversation with the people in front of us and just took our playbills to sign as he spoke with them. then he went “hi,” passed over us to talk to the guy behind us. my sister was like “you were great!”

~tbh sd was kinda messy bc we were at the end of the line and the barrier things didn’t allow for the actors to get enough room to interact with the fans at the back. also jonno was standing there and he’s not a small man.

~saw several male actors leaving sd, waving goodbye at us and just walking away. MOOD. i was exhausted and i wasn’t the one running around on stage!

#ccsquad #cursed child #hp #i see cc

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staystrange · 5 years

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Things I Noticed at the First Sunday Matinee of Be More Chill on Broadway -- 02.17.19

It took me so long to write this post because I had so many thoughts, but I get to post it now in honor of opening night, so I guess it works out : )

NOTE: I have never seen the New Jersey production, so any references I make to that version of the show are based only on the original cast recording. I saw the Off-Broadway production once, back in August, and I wrote a very long and detailed post about that, which you can find here if you are interested. I tried to remember as much as possible from both the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, but my memory isn’t perfect, so apologies in advance if I misremember anything. Enjoy!

OTHER NOTE: When I saw the show Off-Broadway, I saw Troy Iwata as Jake, and when I saw it on Broadway, I saw Troy Iwata as Michael, so any comparisons between productions for those two characters could either be actual character changes or just changes because I saw two different actors play those characters.

Act 1

Jeremy’s bed isn’t onstage at the top of the show anymore. It gets moved onstage once the music starts.

JEREMY WEARS GLASSES!!!!! The Squip fixes his eyesight later, which is a cool way to bring up the fact that the Squip has control over Jeremy’s optic nerves before the optic nerve blocking part happens. As far as I can remember, Jeremy doesn’t wear the glasses again at the end of the show. But still, I was just so excited to see that he wears glasses now. Yay glasses!! (EDIT: I HAVE SEEN PHOTOS AND HE DOES WEAR THE GLASSES AGAIN AT THE END OF THE SHOW)

Will says “Good morning, time to start the day!” a LOT more sarcastically than before.

The dialogue in More Than Survive is different. The conversation about Madilyn being a slut / Jake being a player / etc. is gone and instead there’s a conversation between Jake and Chloe about how he thinks they should both see other people and she pretends to be mature about it but she’s actually upset. The part where Rich writes “BOYF” on Jeremy’s backpack is still the same, though.

At the end of the first round of “Christine…” Will sings it up the octave and it sounds so good and so perfectly Jeremy and I love it. Whoever made that decision deserves an extra round of applause.

There’s an extra bit of dialogue before Michael’s entrance in More Than Survive. Jenna walks onstage with Chloe and tells her that she saw Jake flirting with Madeline, and Chloe stops and says “I want details!” before shoving food in her face and walking offstage.

When I saw the show Off-Broadway, George got entrance applause, and I’d heard that Troy had gotten entrance applause in previous performances the weekend I saw it, so I was all ready for there to be entrance applause when I saw the show. There wasn’t any. It was just me awkwardly cheering.

When Will says “you’re listening to Bob Marley again, aren’t you?” he raises his voice to be heard over the music that is for sure blasting in Michael’s headphones.

The “I wrote Christine a letter telling her how I feel” dialogue is gone. I don’t remember if it was there Off-Broadway either, but it’s such an iconic line and I miss it. I’m glad it’s preserved on the OCR, though.

Michael gets so excited when he sees that the backpacks say “boyf riends” and he says “my mothers will be thrilled!” and takes a selfie with them. When I saw it on Broadway, either the audience laughed too loud or Troy’s mic didn’t work for a second because the first part of the line was cut off and my friend who had never seen the show before totally missed the fact that Michael has two moms.

When Michael says “there’s never been a better time in history to be a loser!” Jeremy responds by saying “thanks” in a way that is exactly like that video with the girl who gets an avocado for a gift. You know the one.

There are new Michael/Jeremy “Christine…” harmonies!!

The cast doesn’t hold out “Canigula…” as long as on the cast recording.

The end of More Than Survive is as heartbreaking as ever and I cried.

CHRISTINE’S BOOTS ARE RAINBOW NOW!! Also, I want them.

I thought they may have cut the “I’m joking!” “I’M JEREMY!” part but nope, it is still there, and it’s still one of my favorite moments of the show.

I Love Play Rehearsal got about a hundred times dorkier for both Christine and Jeremy and it was perfect. Stephanie Hsu is so perfectly dorky off course but the way Will as Jeremy reacts to everything she says and does during that song is so spot on and it just shows how incredibly talented Will is. Aside from that, I Love Play Rehearsal has barely changed.

After I Love Play Rehearsal, Jeremy says something about how he wishes he loved something as much as Christine loves play rehearsal and I thought it was really sweet.

The first More Than Survive reprise is still there! Untouched! Yay!

The Squip Song scene didn’t stand out to me as having any significant changes, aside from Rich now being noticeably affected by his Squip.

I’m not 100% sure but I think there was an extra section in the actual Squip Song that wasn’t there before.

Jeremy’s Squip Song reprise is still there, too.

The dialogue in Two-Player Game is a little bit different, though I already knew that because I was at the Be More Chill event at the Guggenheim that day when it was FREEZING. Michael mentions that Jeremy’s like the Crystal Pepsi he got from Spencer’s Gifts, and Jeremy asks, “Not safe for human consumption?” and Michael replies, “Better with age.” I’m pretty sure Michael referenced a different drink in previous versions of the show, though I’m not 100% sure about that. Also, the choreography is different.

I have now seen three different combinations of Michael/Jeremy perform Two-Player Game: George Salazar and Will Roland (Off-Broadway and the Guggenheim), George and Joe Iconis (Two-Player Game at 54 Below), and Will and Troy Iwata (Broadway). I just think that’s pretty cool.

When Michael sings “I’m your favowite person” he like leans back on Jeremy instead of hugging him.

When Michael and Jeremy sing “it’s just what we do, we make it a two-player game,” the note on PLAY goes up instead of staying the same. I’m not sure when this change happened because it’s the same as the original version on the Two-Player Game album but every time I’ve seen it live since Off-Broadway, it’s had that change. Whenever it happened, I love it and I’m glad it’s a permanent change.

The “I spent all of my bar mitzvah money on a winter-green tic tac!” line is still there. Jeremy is still Jewish. REPRESENTATION!!

When the Squip first appears, he sings this like intro to Be More Chill Part 1 that has part of the old version of Upgrade in it and I was not expecting it at all whatsoever but I like it!

Will looks so proud of himself when he says “I am a masterbater” and it’s hilarious.

Instead of “Jesus Christ” Jeremy says “This was a mistake” and it’s so funny.

The Squip jumps up on the top of one of the clothes racks and sings from there and it’s great.

The mall characters are still as hilarious as ever.

THIS is a big change: The second More Than Survive reprise was almost completely cut and replaced with a new song called Sync Up, which is about Jeremy’s first day of school with the Squip and how it helps him connect with the other characters. It’s a pretty cool song! The “all in all a not too heinous day” part of the More Than Survive reprise is now part of Sync Up, and everything else is gone.

This isn’t a change, but Will Roland dramatically reciting Shakespeare lines will never get old.

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into is pretty much the same as Off-Broadway (which was changed from the original), though the bridge part has like a couple extra notes at the end.

The Squip Lurks instrumental might be gone but I don’t remember for sure.

UPGRADE. Upgrade is seriously like 90% a completely different song than the version on the cast recording. It has changed even more since Off-Broadway, but it’s so much better now!! Instead of just being about Jeremy and Christine each “getting an upgrade,” it now reveals so much about the other characters and adds so much depth to them. I wish I remembered every single lyric, but I remember there’s one part where they all sing “I’m tired of being the person that everyone thinks I am” and it’s just WOW. But yeah, seriously, Upgrade got a serious upgrade.

Loser Geek Whatever is pretty much the same, though the orchestration and staging are slightly different. The song starts with Will sitting on the bleachers on the right of the stage (from the audience’s perspective) and he eventually gets up and just sings it on the otherwise empty stage like he did Off-Broadway. I figured they weren’t changing it much since they already released the studio recording of it. I definitely cried during it though, despite this being my third time seeing Will sing it live. It’s just SO GOOD. He really leaves everything out in the open onstage and I could feel it, even up in the balcony.

Act 2

Halloween has a couple changes. The Squip dances during Halloween with the rest of the cast, which is an interesting change from Off-Broadway. Also, there’s a new section in the song with a new melody and lyrics and I wasn’t expecting it but I like it!! Will did a cartwheel during this song Off-Broadway but didn’t on Broadway and I was disappointed (but not for long — see below).

Christine still wears the princess costume and the whole Prince and princess misunderstanding between Christine and Jake is still there, but now Christine doesn’t wear her Juliet costume. Instead, she wears a low-cut princess dress that she would normally never wear, but she’s wearing it because she thinks it’ll impress Jake. YAY CHARACTER DEPTH!!

Do You Wanna Hang has not changed as far as I can remember.

When I saw Michael in the Bathroom Off-Broadway, I remember that the introduction music for the song started while the audience was still laughing at the joke that preceded it, and I have never heard a room of people go silent so quickly. The shocking effect of it really stuck with me. This time, though, the band waited a couple seconds for the audience to laugh before starting the song, which still works, though it doesn’t have quite the same effect. Also, this may have been because I saw Troy Iwata as Michael, but there were some lines that were sung slightly differently than before, and I think the song is a bit slower overall, too, though it may have been that way Off-Broadway.

OH ALSO THERE IS A THEREMIN PART IN MICHAEL IN THE BATHROOM NOW!!

The A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into (Reprise) scene on the couch with Jeremy and Christine is still one of my two favorite scenes in the show. I absolutely love it. It has not changed very much, though I did notice that when Will sang “Christine… will you go out with me?” he sounded a lot more insecure and quiet than he did Off-Broadway. This version works better for the character for sure, though I miss the belting version of it because it sounded SO GOOD. This version sounds good too, though, for sure.

Instead of carrying a bottle of gasoline, Rich carries a jack-o-lantern right before The Smartphone Hour.

There are some new harmonies in The Smartphone Hour!! Also, Troy Iwata and Jason Sweettooth Williams were lowered down onto the stage at one point and it was great.

In the scene right before The Pants Song, Mr. Heere still asks Michael “Do you love Jeremy?” but instead of Michael responding like “wHAT?!” he now responds like “…what?” if that makes sense.

I honestly cannot even tell you if The Pitiful Children has changed any more from Off-Broadway because I don’t remember what any of the new lyrics are. Chances are it’s changed at least a little bit more.

The Play has a few notable differences. First of all, though, I finally got to be part of the huge cheer during “My Squip says I can go all the way to Broadway!!” because I saw the show Off-Broadway before anyone, even the cast, knew it would be going to Broadway. I have been waiting MONTHS for that moment. It was worth it. For Michael Makes an Entrance, Troy ran through a wall and it was so epic. During the fight sequence between Jeremy and Michael, the movements made it look like Jeremy was glitching as he fought with the Squip for control of his own body, and it was so cool. Also, Will did a cartwheel during this scene instead of Halloween. I’m pretty sure Jake’s part in this song is different, though I don’t remember for sure. The Brooke and Chloe part definitely changed a little bit. During Christine’s part, instead of just singing Jeremy’s name once, she sings it three times to mirror the way Jeremy always sings Christine’s name three times.

The final scene is my other favorite scene in the show, and while it’s mostly the same, it has a couple changes. The “oh my God I’m totally bi!!” line is of course still there. Voices in My Head still starts as Jeremy gets choked up about his dad wearing pants (and I still started crying immediately). Michael still sings his line up the octave. HERE’S THE BIG CHANGE: the lyrics of the second verse of Voices in My Head are COMPLETELY different. Totally rewritten. I don’t remember what they are, but I do remember it ends with something about them being Jeremy’s squad. I did NOT expect that AT ALL, but I like it!! I do miss Will being like “what, this?” in response to the line about the acne, but I love the new lyrics too. THE OTHER CHANGE: when Jeremy asks out Christine, instead of saying “lunch? just the two of us?” he says “bowling alley performance art? just the two of us?” This is a reference to the A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into scene where Christine describes this idea she has for bowling alley performance art in response to Jeremy saying that his screaming in the mall after taking the Squip was part of a performance art piece. It’s a perfect moment. Jeremy and Christine still kiss adorable, and Jeremy still squeals in the dorkiest way possible. At the very end of the song, Christine goes up to Jeremy, leans into him, and says “ready?” leading to Jeremy screaming “LET’S GO!!” and going into the end of the show and it’s perfect. Some of the costumes are different, most notably Michael wearing a red jacket instead of his hoodie and Jeremy wearing Hello Kitty shoes for some reason.

Curtain calls are the same.

Overall, the show is fantastic, even better than it was Off-Broadway!! I’m sure they’ve made even more changes in the preview performances since I went, so I can’t wait to go see the show again after opening and see what changes they kept and what else is different. I hope as many people as possible get to see this show live because it is truly special and beautiful.

Happy Opening, Be More Chill. Thank you for everything.

#original #musicals #be more chill #be more chill broadway #happy opening #y'all truly deserve the world #thank you for changing my life for the better

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karasunocurry · 6 years

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Atsukashiyama Ibun Paris report

So I’m home and I feel like I’m in a post-convention depression more that I’ve felt after recent cons xD I was kind of sad that I wasn’t at Japan Expo Paris, I didn’t actually know beforehand they’d be there ^^; and I couldn’t take days off or afford to go either way, but I’d been looking forward to the musical for an entire week (including losing sleep over it, oops). I went to Paris on Friday and met up with Edo and did some shopping for items we needed (or didn’t need but I have a backscratcher that acts as extendable Ishikirimaru prop now xD). Later met up with Mai & Katy and then had a late but well-deserved dinner at a Japanese restaurant.

Saturday I attended the fanmeet near the Louvre. It was warm and we tried to stay in the shade of the trees. Some people came in cosplay (brave! but not smart xD) and it was fun to see all the itabags gathering. I didn’t talk to that many people but it was great meeting @sohmariku and talking about Japan and subbing. There was a lot of things going on in terms of ‘what we can do for the boys’, like signing a flag, writing short messages for Kitazono Ryo and even recording video messages (which I fucked up- and once I make a mistake I’m done for xD). Took a break early in the evening because I was tired and started getting a really bad headache, but met up with a group of people for dinner, and then went to bed. For some reason, woke up way too early every day but *shrug* it must be a jiji thing.

Sunday- performance day

Aaand then it was Sunday. I’d also decided to write letters on a whim but I only ended up writing two (for Sakiyama & Ryuji) and a get well soon card for Ryo. I went to the venue around 10, to meet up with Edo and Katy again and check how everything would be organized. It appeared that goods would only be sold 45 minutes before the show. Uhm. I didn’t think too much of it at that point, but luckily Edo was very much set on getting in early for merch, so I was also pretty much in front of the line of one of the entrances. Good thing too, because the goods stand was too small and too slow to allow many people to actually get their stuff. I managed to buy bromides, the pamphlet and a penlight - decided against the DVD bc I can get it cheaper online - and after I went to the toilet, they already announced that not many more people would be able to buy goods. I went in and took my seat and was later joined by Senta, who’d never watched the musical before so it was fun to afterwards hear what she thought of it and explain some more about the connection between the swords and their former masters. I wasn’t very much at the front but had a good view on the entire stage. At first the full cast and the producer (and writer?) took the stage to explain the Kitazono Ryo’s medical condition - he’d been diagnosed with retinal detachment and was advised not to act on stage, but he could do his lines and vocals. They then called him on stage, and you could tell by his posture and face that this was a very difficult thing to do. Ryo cried through his words and could hardly speak, it was so very sad to see him like this, apologizing for not being able to be on stage. He got a big round of applause and took a spot behind the audience from where he’d act out his lines. [spoilers ahead]

The musical started off differently, with Mikazuki doing a dance - immediately making the link to Tsuwamonodomo stronger - while the ‘human’ story played out behind him. They also added that smithing song between Mikazuki and Kogitsunemaru. There were some obvious changes to the musical, but mostly subltle changes in conversations and little things added here and there. The overall flow of the story remains the same, of course, but the musical has evolved through time and you can tell that there’s improvement in all aspects (although it was always great haha). The presence of Kogi on stage was not a big problem for the course of the story, since his interaction is mostly limited to speaking to others, aside from the song he shared with Mikazuki and ofc in the group scenes, there is an empty spot, but even so his character was there. It was still sad to see everyone looking at that empty spot, but I’m just glad that at least he was allowed to and able to perform by speaking.

I love the scenes with Benkei and Iwatooshi - let’s be honest, Iwatooshi is the new guy at the citadel in this piece and he’s so fucking strong, bless him. Just like his former master, he’s a good man with a strong sense of duty and good intuition. And his doubt and resolve are played out very well. Araki Kentaro is also great as Yoshitsune, in every performance he’s been able to express the duality between human Yoshitsune and possessed Yoshitsune very well.

I also think everyone grew in their respective characters and the singing was also better than before. Everyone’s performance was outstanding. Mikazuki’s elegance, Iwatooshi’s strength, Ishikirimaru’s protectiveness, Kashuu’s vigor, Imanotsurugi’s enery and Kogi’s empathy, it was all there. I just love how these characters influence each other. At the end, the fighting got more intense than it was before, adding some dramatic despair that I don’t think I felt before during that scene, and I don’t think anyone would ever complain about Daichi’s bare back :) The Idol Live part was all new!! Surprisingly, I wasn’t expecting that and as people later pointed out, it was nowhere hinted at either - no idol outfit bromides for us yet, but I’d love to get those!.I love the new outfits, they were very nicely coordinated, the original character colours were used very well, and the jackets with connecting lines look so fabulous <3 The songs were also very good! Very upbeat and catchy and boi the dance moves!! I was really impressed and as Ishikirimaru fan I’ve been eyeing Sakiyama most of the time - hard to ignore his tight pants and smooth moves xD I have a vague feeling they also gave him more center stage time? His popularity has climbed since the first Atsukashiyama run so I guess they might take that into consideration? It made me happy to see that they looked like they were having a lot of fun, despite everything, that they were giving their all in a foreign country, and by the amount of pen lights and different colours, everyone had fans and I hope they felt our love~

They also kept up with the misogi tradition where someone has to say a line in repsonse to a given situation. Mikazuki got picked and instead of giving us a line, he had to flash his back, this kinky mofo. Mario ma boy you know what you’re about don’t you. <3 At the end they all presented themselves in French (v cute baww), aaand it ended with otokomichi as usual but that entire song/act is just A+++, it’s such a motivating song. Everyone looked happy. They got a lot of applause, a standing ovation WELL DESERVED and in the end, all pen lights turned yellow to wave at Ryo as he left his spot. I hope he got some strenth and courage from it, and felt less burdened. I went out... Edo and Katy went to the evening performance too. I was thinking of just hanging around or maybe going to the hotel but - France had just won the world cup and Paris had exploded into a chaotic soccer mess that I wanted no part of - so I bought a rank 2 ticket and went in again. (yolo is a thing, this might well be the only time to ever see a toumyu live) Things about seeing it twice: - Ryozono had regained his composure. I think that the successful afternoon performance and the fan’s reactions had made him feel at least less worried. He apologized this time with a strong and confident voice. Bless him. - There was a scene where Ishi wanted to draw Kashuu’s portrait (ref to Mihotose), but he forgot his pen xD He glossed it over real smooth. GJ Sakiyama <3 - It was misogi time for Ishikirimaru!! I may have screamed. I wish I’d remembered exactly what he said but it was about hugging, I think my brain just melted hence the bad memory. ^^;;;

- For the idol performance we took different seats at the side to see the actors from closer by.<3 - Sadly there were a lot of empty seats for the evening performance. It would’ve been hard to get home when the musical was over so I understand but I also think they should have done a better job at promoting the entire event. It’s alway been hard to get information, most of it had been translated by fans from the official Japanese site. People came from all over Europe and more people would come if you’d done proper promotion beforehand. Uhm... I think that’s it. It was great. I had an amazing time with the people I was with and talked to and I wish I’d been there today as well to talk about it even more but HMU ok.

Can I just say I’m into hell even deeper now? That I fucking love Tsubasa? But also Daichi? But also Mario? Actually EVERYONE??? I’m really really really happy I decided to go, best decision, kill me now (but I’m already dead), I haven’t been able to think of anything else and I’m definitely not ready to go to work tomorrow. I hope this does still open doors to more (tourabu) musicals and/or stage plays to come to Europe. It’s very niche but it’s still a growing fandom. I’m more motivated again to do some subbing to spread the love for the stages/musicals that I like and hope people will join us in this hell and start supporting the boys and their work.

more random stuff on twitter

#musical touken ranbu in paris #atsukashiyama ibun paris #toumyu paris #toumyu atsukashiyama ibun #report #musical touken ranbu #toumyu

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torestoreamends · 7 years

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Recap: June 15th/16th

So as some of you who read my tags may have guessed, I went to see the play again this week. I wanted to hit a nice round number before my first anniversary of seeing Cursed Child next Wednesday, and I’ve been hearing such good things about how the new cast are developing that I couldn’t resist. I was not disappointed.

I’d been told that the show is almost unrecognisable from how it was on the 24th and 25th of May, and while that is not entirely accurate, it is so much more than what it was. My impression, particularly on the 24th, was of something raw and skeletal, that needed filling out. The bare bones were all there, but there wasn’t much detail, simply because they hadn’t had very much time to explore. And now they’re 13 shows in, the detail is definitely coming.

I’m not going to do a full on line-by-line recap, but I have too much to say not to write something, so I think this will just be a summary of things I loved from each of the actors, and maybe a little bit about a couple of my favourite scenes. I’ll attempt to keep this short (wish me luck).

Thomas

His was one of the most complete performances on the 24th/25th, and it’s still going strong. He’s delightfully funny, he really feels like Ron, always a source of positivity and support for everyone around him, his love for his family comes shining out at every turn, and I love the moments where he steps up to be the hero. I adore that he’s still doing the kneeling down for the re-proposal. I also thought he was amazing during the death scene. Usually it’s so easy to ignore Ron and Hermione in that scene, but I noticed that he was crying and heartbroken, and that he ended up hugging Hermione as tightly as he could. His Ron seems to want to be a protector, and a level head, and I think it’s wonderful.

Emma

To be completely honest, I still don’t really see Emma as Ginny. That doesn’t mean she’s not brilliant though, and there’s still so much I love about her. You can see how her focus throughout the play is on making sure Albus is okay. She spends so much time fighting on his behalf, and taking care of him. She sees Albus’s pain in a way that Harry doesn’t, and when Harry finally catches up, she’s there to help him work out what to do about it. She gives Albus so many of the most amazing hugs, that he so clearly needs.

And I love the little flashes we see of her pain. The way she’s sitting alone on the bench after Harry is transfigured, and the way she isn’t afraid to challenge Harry when Albus goes missing again. I also love how she tries to get in between Harry and Myrtle, when Myrtle is flirting with him. Also, she and Thomas have really worked on the sibling relationship. In the first EGM, when the Battle of Hogwarts is mentioned, Ron steps over to Ginny and puts a hand on her arm, and then they puts their arms round each other, acknowledging that although they won the battle they lost so much.

Rakie

I really do absolutely love Rakie as Hermione. She’s smart and bold and authoritative and she has these little cheeky moments that are so sweet. In the baby or a holiday scene, when Albus was blocking the door she gave Harry this little wink, like ‘oh Ron does this sort of thing all the time, I’ve got this’. There’s no situation that she’s not in control of (apart from in the second timeline when she’s barely even in control of herself). She’s warm and strong, and you trust her implicitly. Plus, she has the sweetest relationships with everyone else, from Ron to Ginny to Harry to Rose. I think she’s a pretty perfect casting choice.

Ensemble

What would this show be without the various wonderful people who make up the ensemble? There’s so much talent in there, and they’re doing some really great stuff. Here are some of my highlights:

The Dursleys had some really cool bits of interaction during the first nightmare, and I particularly loved Dudley egging his dad on to stand up to Hagrid.

The kids in the DADA scene have got to the levels of shenanigans that the old cast had, with Craig turning round to laugh at Polly and Yann when Gryffindor had points docked, and Karl turning round to give Albus a mocking round of applause when he realised Hermione was their DADA teacher.

I’ve noticed that the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins in this cast have formed an alliance against the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. This might be solely down to Mackley still feeling the Slytherin loyalty, but whatever it is it’s pretty entertaining.

Josh Wyatt now has a fake moustache in the second EGM scene.

The kids eavesdropping outside McGonagall’s office is just amazing, they do an incredible job. I always wanted more reaction and interaction from that bit, and this cast give me that in spades, from Karl putting a hand on Rose’s shoulder, to Craig and Karl grinning at each other because of course Albus and Scorpius managed to bring back Voldemort, to the little heartbroken glances between James and Rose, and James seeming taken aback to hear the suggestion that his brother might be expelled.

Rupert might be the perfect Cedric. He just looks so clean and put together, unrufflable and heroic, and I still love how young he looks. He’s brilliant.

They all feel slick and comfortable now, and it’s lovely to see how all their hard work has paid off.

Mark

I simply adore Mark Theodore. I love the pace he sets, I love his movement, I love his presence on stage. My favourite moment of his is the transition into Godric’s Hollow. As the boys run off, the Sorting Hat comes running on from the other side. He checks his watch, like he wants to make sure he’s not late for Halloween, like he knows the significance of this moment. And then there’s a pure simplicity to how he sprinkles the snow and walks to the back of the stage. It’s always been one of my favourite moments of the play, and it still is.

My one issue with Mark, the new source of all my stress in seeing the play, is that he seems to really struggle getting the Patronus to light. Both times I’ve seen him, it’s been touch and go whether he’d get it to work, and I can only imagine how terrifying it must be for Samuel, who has the next line (‘A doe, Lily’s Patronus’), because there’s no way to get out of that one if it doesn’t light. Thankfully, both times it did eventually light up.

David

David deserves a shout out for being an incredible Snape. I’d been told that when he’s writing on the blackboard during the scene with Scorpius, he’s writing ‘lux in tenebris’ (light in the darkness), and I can confirm that this seems to be a consistent thing. I think it’s beautiful how much David cares about Snape as a character, and how he’s determined to do a good job. His Snape is more Alan Rickman-esque. He has a soft, intimidating tone to his speech, barely ever raises his voice, and I’ll never be over the scream he gives when the Dementors surround and destroy him. I also love how he checks that Scorpius is okay under the lake before he gives himself up, constantly trying to buy him a little bit more time.

Annabel

I don’t even know what to say about Annabel. On the 24th/25th, particularly in Part One, you could tell she was taking care of the boys more than acting for herself, clearly she was still worried about them and wanted to help them through it, but there’s none of that anymore. She’s bringing her best, and it’s as extraordinary as I expected it to be. Her Delphi laughs a lot, this sort of self-deprecating giggle to start with, clearly acting the way she thinks will make Albus like her, trying to connect with him, but eventually those little giggles become full on maniacal cackling.

I love in the Owlery scene how you can see the Diggory charade begin to crack, and the evil Delphi come pouring out, like evil black smoke beginning to creep from the broken jar it’s been contained in for so long. I noticed that in the Quidditch Pitch scene she doesn’t hold her wand when she recites the prophecy and then drags the boys to her to take them back to the maze. It’s all wandless magic, and it’s all terrifying. Also she’s started kicking Craig again, which I’m pretty delighted about. She’s simply incredible. And she is now blonde! She’s apparently celebrating the freedom of wearing a wig by dyeing her hair all the colours of the rainbow until she gets back to brown again.

Jamie

I personally absolutely adore what Jamie is doing with Harry. I think he’s brilliant. When I watch him, there are so many little things he does that I recognise as Harry from the books, and the biggest one is how he plays Harry’s pain around his scar, and his anger. There is so much restraint there, you can see how Harry is holding everything in and trying not to explode. There are times when his face is just contorted, his eyes screwed shut, with the physical effort of not crying out or drawing attention to his pain. There are moments when he looks sick, and clammy, and just a wreck of worry and torment. I recognise in it all those moments when Harry runs off to hide in the bathroom so Ron and Hermione won’t see him break down under the pain from his scar, and the physical sickness that’s associated with that pain.

I also love how he absolutely loves Albus but just doesn’t get him. He just doesn’t see what��s going in there, and he doesn’t understand it. It’s that lack of understanding more than anything that seems to cause Albus most pain. He wants his dad to see him, but Harry can’t, he’s lost, and the second he begins to register what’s going on with Albus is the second things begin to snap into place and he begins to try and fix everything.

I think Jamie does the office scene with Dumbledore so beautifully. You can see him listening and reacting. When Dumbledore tells Harry he loved him, Harry looks up in surprise and amazement. I love how in that scene Jamie directs your attention towards Dumbledore. I’ve paid more attention to Dumbledore in the last two shows than I ever have before, and that really works. Also in that scene, the moment where Harry grabs Draco’s wrist is working better now than it did before, it feels less awkward, it’s briefer, and I still like that moment of physical connection between them, and the things it throws back to.

On the whole I see so much detail beginning to come into Jamie’s performance. Things like the pain and sickness that shows up on his face, and the way he tries to stand up taller when Draco’s in the room being all intimidating to try and match him in height and impressiveness, and the way he grins at Hermione and Ron on the platform when Ginny’s talking about how people stare at them. He’s so proud of his best friends, and he adores them both, and it’s a beautiful thing.

James

The thing I noticed most about James in this performance was how much Draco expresses himself through the way he holds himself. His face expresses a lot of things, but many of those things are restrained or filtered, they manifest in frustration and irritation and trying to hold back his emotions. Whereas Draco doesn’t seem to be able to control what he does with his body, and that’s where you see all his pain and grief and desperation.

I noticed that sometimes Draco doesn’t stand up to his full height, and I always expect the Malfoys to be perfectly upright at all times, but the moments when he doesn’t stand up straight are the moments when he’s upset or scared or doubting himself, or just trying to connect to Scorpius.

A couple of examples:

He stands up very straight during the scene around the map, where he finds out what Harry said to Albus. In that scene, Draco is using his height as a weapon, for intimidation, to get what he wants, which is the resources and information to bring Scorpius home immediately.

In the scene in his office during the Voldemort timeline, he bows his head to avoid looking at Scorpius while Scorpius is giving his initial speech, like he’s desperately trying to restrain himself from doing something regrettable, but when he realises that Scorpius is hurting, and that there are things at work that he doesn’t understand, he steps over to Scorpius and leans in close to him, listening to him, bringing himself to his son’s level.

In the second EGM, he was bent right over, staring at the ground, while Hermione was talking about the loss of Craig. He looked like he was in mourning, and all I could think was that he was imagining the worst, imagining the possibility of finding Scorpius’s body lying somewhere too, and that he was utterly broken by that.

It’s such a brilliant and beautiful form of expression, that I’ve never really thought about before, but it works so well for this character who has so many emotions that he keeps locked away. James is an incredible, thoughtful, expressive actor. I’m so grateful to be able to see him explore this role full time.

Samuel

There’s so much to say about Samuel that I’m not entirely sure where to start. His emotional range is remarkable. He takes Scorpius to higher highs and lower lows than anyone else has managed to before him. He can just hold an audience in the palm of his hand, because he’s such a confident presence on stage. The way he plays Scorpius isn’t as confident as I initially thought. I think last time he was being particularly bold because he was running on the adrenaline of his first performance. This time he was more measured, more nervous and flaily as a character, and just all round wonderful.

His library scene broke me. I love how he shatters, and when he does he’s just a complete mess. The second he starts trying to talk about his mum, maybe it’s the first time he’s managed to talk about her since she died, he just begins to break down. It’s too much for him. And I love how during Albus’s apology he’s so overcome. At one point he put his hand on the back of the chair he was sitting on and rested his forehead on it while he cried, wiping away real tears.

His pain, his strength, his hopefulness are all beautiful to behold. I love how when he gets out of the lake and sees his dad he just stands there, arms spread, desperately waiting for a hug that Draco just isn’t ready to give him (Draco was looking anywhere but at Scorpius, equally as desperate to get out of this uncomfortable situation). And he plays so many still, significant moments, especially ones with Albus. The way he can say so much with just a look, so many things he can’t say or isn’t ready to say but that he feels in his heart, is amazing.

Samuel is so thoughtful, so talented, and clearly so dedicated to his craft. At stage door we mentioned to him one of the ‘things he does’ that we really liked, and he was appalled at the idea that maybe he’d done that too much, that we’d seen the same thing too many times. I think he wants to constantly adapt and change and explore and find new things. He cares so much about putting on a fresh performance every day. I don’t think we’re ever going to get tired of him.

Theo

Last time I couldn’t really give you a very good impression of the Albus that Theo is playing, because it was difficult to tell, and there was a lot of development still to come. I am now genuinely delighted to be able gush at you all about Theo’s Albus. There’s so much in there, so many different emotions, and so much nuance.

He’s very soft on the outside, soft and forlorn, and underneath there’s this hard layer of pain and anger that he clearly doesn’t want, but that he can’t help having because of the way his life is. He clearly loves his dad and wants to live up to him, but he’s so frustrated by the way Harry can’t see him. It’s that frustration that generates his pain and anger in so many situations. He’s very flirty, painfully so, and awkward to the extreme. Albus as a person just makes some truly embarrassing choices in regard to his interactions with people he loves, and this kid does not understand the meaning of the words casual or appropriate. He spends 95% of his time despairing of Scorpius or Harry. He’s also powerful and authoritative at times, reminiscent of his mum or dad, although he hasn’t quite grown into it yet, and he hasn’t really realised the authority he can command when he wants to. He’s a wonderful listener, and is kind, and caring, and constantly tries to adapt himself based on what people say to him.

I simply adore this new spin on the character. I love how so much of what Theo does with Albus’s anger is more of a cry for help than anything else. He needs his dad to see him, and the only way he can get that recognition is to blow up, even though he hates it. And when his dad finally does recognise him he absolutely lights up, and he’s so happy about it.

Theo has so many beautiful moments, scattered throughout the play. The way he reacts while listening on the stairs to Amos and Harry’s conversation, and his reaction to Delphi afterwards. The way he looks so proud of Scorpius during the quiz section, like he’s just showing him off to the audience. The way he says “No, you need to listen to me!” and the lines that follow that, when the boys are talking to Amos, embodying the stage direction with power and strength. The way he thrashes around, disturbed and unhappy as he wakes up in the hospital wing. The way he storms off at the end of the dorm scene with Harry in Act Three. The way he struggles against his bonds to try and get to Scorpius and help him during the torture section, and the way he presents himself to Delphi when he says “Do your worst”. The way he lights up in the final second of the play when Harry puts his arm round him.

At stage door, Theo is articulate, he listens with interest to everything, gives brilliant answers to questions, and insights into the play. He seems to be like a sponge for information, constantly learning and growing. When I said how much I loved that “No, you need to listen to me!” line, he told me the direction John had given to him (A Henry V moment). He has so much to say and so much insight to share, and he doesn’t seem at all hesitant to make conversation and listen to feedback. I apologised for talking to him for too long at stage door, and he said it was totally fine and that he loves it.

He’s developed so much in just thirteen shows, and he still has masses of potential and so much growth to do. I can absolutely see why he was cast, and I’m going to have so much fun watching him flourish over the next year.

A couple of brief technical things that I noticed, before I do some recaps of my favourite scenes (remember when this was supposed to be a short recap?):

For the first time I ever I saw what supports Craig when Delphi AKs him. There’s a sort of table on a pole that rises up out of the stage, and then Craig falls back on it, and that lowers him slowly to the ground. I only saw it because I was at an extreme angle to the stage, and the AK green fire lit it up. Massive kudos to the tech team for making that thing invisible enough that it took me a year to finally see it with my own eyes.

I noticed that there are a couple of cast members who hook wires to things and people during transitions, in a really subtle way. Again, I only spotted them because I was at an extreme angle to the stage. I’ve never noticed it before. They hook the wires onto the bench during the transition into St Jerome’s, and I think I saw them hooking wires to Delphi or someone at some point too.

Not really a tech thing, but I always love sitting in different parts of the theatre because you can see different bits and pieces of Delphi’s creepy writing on the walls. This time I noticed that she’d scrawled the word Delphi over and over again, with a few Diggorys thrown in, and an Amos too. It was almost like she felt some small twinge of companionship for him because he was something of a father-figure to her for a little while. I also noticed that she’d written some more of her creepy death poetry underneath.

Scene Recaps! I’m going to separate these up into little bubbles, so I can talk about some other things I forgot to say, or don’t have opportunity to say elsewhere.

Harry and Albus

These two are really one of my favourite things about the show these days. The way they play this relationship is so painfully beautiful, right from the start when Harry gives Albus a massive hug, through the entire journey to the end.

The Blanket Scene

This is a conflict born of misunderstanding. There’s no vindictiveness, just pain and sorrow. Albus spends most of the scene sitting cross-legged on his bed, scrunched up into a ball, and only getting up when he gets to ‘should we bow now, or will a curtsey do?’. He has some brief moments of softness when Harry is talking about how the blanket is from his mum, but the scene is spent lost in how Harry doesn’t recognise that he doesn’t want to go back to school, that he’s upset, and miserable, and just wants some comfort. Theo’s Albus is so full of pain already, that Harry’s line just seems to shatter him. I can’t wait to see more versions of this scene as it grows.

The Dorm Scene

This is the scene Harry realises that he has no idea how much Albus was hurting. Their conversation in this scene is a revelation to both of them, when they sit on top of that suitcase and they begin to recognise each other’s issues (and emotional baggage). Albus discovering that his dad was afraid of losing him, that he’s afraid of anything at all. Harry discovering that Albus isn’t okay. This is the point where they collide, and understand, and begin to reconcile.

I love how Albus’s “No” in answer to Harry asking if he’s okay is just a broken cry for help. When he walks out at the end of that scene, it’s not in disgust, it’s because he can’t handle the conversation anymore, and he can’t handle how his dad doesn’t see that there’s a problem. Harry should already know that he’s not okay, isn’t that obvious? But Harry isn’t paying attention to him. The one thing he needs from his dad he’s still not getting, so he just gets up and storms from the room.

The Graveyard

I adore this beautiful coming together, where they finally see each other and understand each other, and have listened to each other’s pain. The moment where they manage to talk, and it’s the fulfilment of everything they’ve both wanted through the show.

This scene is beautiful in so many different ways, but I think my favourite thing about it is the final moment, the very last moment of the play. They’re standing a little apart, but then Harry puts his arm round Albus, and Albus is stunned. He looks around, confused to see what Harry is doing, and when he realises his dad has put his arm round him he just relaxes. It’s like all his pain melts away, and he leans against his dad’s side and gives this huge, beautiful, beaming smile that lights up the room. It’s the perfect ending to Harry and Albus’s journey, and it’s the perfect ending to the play. A beautiful anecdote to all the pain that’s come before it. I could watch Theo and Jamie do this scene a thousand times and still melt at the end. They’re perfect.

Draco and Scorpius

Last time I wrote up an entire page about the scene in Draco’s office. I’ll try not to be so long-winded this time!

Draco’s Office

Because of where I was sitting, during this scene I could see Samuel’s back, but I had the most perfect view of James Howard’s face. Any good view of James’s face is a severe problem, because it’s liable to cause so much pain, and this was one of the best views of it in the entire theatre.

Draco avoided looking at his son through the whole of Scorpius’s opening tirade, and you could see him getting more and more agitated as Scorpius began to attack him. He couldn’t handle the accusations. He was shuffling papers with more venom as the speech went on, and I could see this little twitch in his face, like maybe he was chewing the inside of his mouth to stop himself saying something regrettable. It got worse and worse when Astoria came into the conversation, but he was desperate not to retaliate, to keep calm. But the second Scorpius suggested he might be a murderer he just snapped.

The way James pulls Scorpius onto the desk is brutal, a reaction he can’t control, and his only thought is to stop Astoria’s name being used against him. He’s so brusque. There’s no pause to consider or calculate. It’s just a reflex. But then once Draco lets Scorpius go, he twitches his hand because he hates what he’s done so much.

When he asks whether Astoria really said about him being a good man, his fingers went to his wedding ring. It’s one of James’s most important Draco mannerisms, and it’s easily the most painful. The second he thinks of Astoria or talks about her, he starts touching his wedding ring.

I think Draco is frustrated by what Scorpius says about the Malfoys. I think perhaps the desk slap comes from this feeling of ‘yes of course we’re terrible but it’s who we are, and what do you expect me to do about it’? He can’t change who he is. He can’t change his position in the world. Nor can he change who Scorpius is. They are the Malfoys. This is their fate; their inevitability. This is where they will always be, and there’s no walking away from it, so this accusation from Scorpius when he’s been trying so hard just stings him, and leaves him determined to prove that he really is like what Astoria said he was.

My favourite thing in this scene was that when Draco said “There’s more of her in there than I thought” he took a step towards Scorpius, pointing right at his heart. For a second I thought he might touch Scorpius, maybe put a hand on his chest the way Jamie P used to with Sam in the final scene. But of course James knows Draco well, and Draco would never be so physically intimate with Scorpius. Not this Draco anyway. It just couldn’t happen in that world. So he stopped short. But it was probably the most intimate and loving thing that Draco will ever express to Scorpius. It was beautiful. And he stayed there to finish his lines before he returned behind the desk for “For Voldemort and Valour”.

Other Draco and Scorpius notes

I love how Draco gives Scorpius the responsibility of holding Delphi’s wand, and how Scorpius accepts that responsibility and carries it out very carefully, but is also appalled by it.

I’m not sure what Alex used to do with the Time-Turner, but I never saw him holding it after the adults get back to 1981, and he was always so delightfully interactive with Scorpius after the hug. I really wish James would get rid of the Time-Turner too, because I almost feel like he’s being restricted by the prop.

To go back a bit, when Scorpius comes out of the lake he stands there with his arms open like he’s desperate to hug his dad, while Draco looks anywhere but at him, apparently so uncomfortable and unsure of what to do with himself. The audience absolutely lost its mind during this moment last night (they also gave the hug a massive round of applause, so I think it was a very Malfoy friendly audience).

Scorpius and Albus

This is going to be the part where this recap spirals out of control, because these boys have no restraint, and are absolutely sublime together.

General observations through Act One and the beginning of Act Two

The boys shake hands for an absurdly long time when they meet on the train. They shake for a bit, then just hold each other’s hand, then start shaking again. It’s really very sweet.

At the beginning of Samuel’s sweets song, he sets up the singing bit by going ‘SWEETS, she says…’, with sweets said in a ridiculous flaily voice. And then later in the scene, when Albus says “I didn’t stay for you, I stayed for your sweets!” He says sweets in the same way as Scorpius did earlier.

Albus looks so delighted and proud when Scorpius is answering his quiz questions. He stands there with a hand on his hip, grinning at Scorpius, happy to just show him off and let him be happy.

Sort of a Scorbus comment but not entirely. When Delphi says “Great. Wizzo!” during the Expelliarmus scene, she and Albus do this little wiggly finger, jazz hands kind of thing, and then Scorpius comes over and asks “What’s Wizzo?” and tries to join in the jazz hands, but they both judge him so hard.

When Albus tells Scorpius that he’s his best friend, he sort of rushes up to him and puts both hands on his shoulders, like he doesn’t quite dare hug him, but needs him to know he’s being serious.

The I Love Krum chant will be the equivalent of Sam and Anthony’s Polyjuice scene, in that it will always be the thing that makes me want to die from the second hand embarrassment.

At the end of the staircase ballet, Scorpius starts slowly walking down the stairs in time with the music, until he just gives up. And on the other staircase, Albus just sort of crumples onto the stairs in misery and despair, and is sitting down when the stairs reach the wings.

The Library Scene

Samuel delivers this scene the same way James L used to: in floods of tears and so much pain. In fact, what he actually does is quite different to what James used to do, but the intent to break everyone’s hearts seems to be the same. (Note: I don’t have many Theo comments for this scene because he had his back to me. Next show I’m on the direct opposite side of the theatre, so I’ll have a perfect view of everything I missed this time!)

I love how when the librarian comes to tell the boys off, Albus throws Scorpius a book, and they both start pretending to read really really fast so she’ll go away. It’s something they both pick up on so fast that I can’t help but wonder whether getting told off in the library is a regular thing for them. Even in the midst of this heated argument they’re still a team.

This audience thought that Scorpius’s crush on Rose was the most hilarious thing. This was definitely Samuel’s fault for making such a big deal about it. Whenever Scorpius said Rose’s name during the argument, the audience would all burst out laughing. He’s just so obviously fixated on her during this scene.

I’ve already given some thoughts on the big speech above, so let’s skip straight to the most heartbreaking thing. When Albus tells Scorpius about Harry thinking the rumours were true, Scorpius was absolutely shattered. He looked up at him in complete devastation. His hero, the saviour of the wizarding world, thinks that he is the son of Voldemort, the evil spawn of the most terrible wizard ever to live. He’s absolutely destroyed by that. Thank goodness Albus rushes in so quickly to tell him that he doesn’t believe it.

I think I should also note, I can categorically say that Samuel has changed his line deliveries in this scene over the last 13 shows. There’s one specific line that I’ve had stuck in my head the whole time, and it was definitely different this time around. Like I said earlier, there’s no danger of getting bored with this boy. The only thing we’re in danger of is not getting to see a favourite thing again, because he’s switched it up for something else.

The Slumber Party

I’m not going to lie, I was mildly terrified that Theo wouldn’t do the pillow fight this time around, because it took him a long time to pick the pillow up and whack Scorpius with it, but it happened eventually, and I was relieved!

Also, I should say that I absolutely love what Samuel does with the start of this scene. Coming in already awake and plotting, then saying Albus’s name in a variety of different silly voices (“Alboos?”) before tiptoeing over to wake him up. And I also love how when Albus wakes up and says “Pleasant. That’s a pleasant and not scary way to wake up,” he says the scary with this kind of growly evil voice. This is not a kid who loves his sleep anymore, this is a kid who’s bounding with energy at every moment of the day or night, perfectly matched to Scorpius’s energy.

Scorpius still does the thing where he wraps the duvet round himself like a cloak and puts on a spooky voice when he says Mouldy Voldy, which is great, and I hope he continues to do it, because it’s a real favourite thing of mine.

I don’t know what it is about Samuel’s delivery, but there’s always so much significance to lines like: “When the Dementors were inside my head, Professor Snape told me to think of you.” I don’t know what it is about the way he says them, maybe it’s the hesitancy, and the sense that Scorpius is trying to find exactly the right words, but it always feels like he’s telling, or trying to tell, Albus so much in those moments.

Another cute little Scorbus moment is when Scorpius goes “You know we can’t try again”, and then Albus replies with “Yes, I do know that”, and Scorpius leans in and points to Albus as he says his line, and then Albus leans in and points back during his. It’s ridiculous, but lovely. I bet these two have about a million secret handshakes and double act routines all planned out.

The Quidditch Pitch/Maze Scenes

The first time Scorpius is tortured, Albus starts struggling against the bindings in his wrists, like he either wants to get free so he can throw himself in front of Scorpius, or so he can attack Delphi.

When Albus says “Do your worst,” to Delphi, Theo does what I was always frustrated that Sam didn’t do. He steps right up to her and presents himself as a target for her wand, and it’s beautiful and brave. He doesn’t even hesitate.

The screaming has been toned way up since the 25th of May, and I now truly believe Albus’s pain when Scorpius is being tortured, especially when he crumples helplessly to his knees because he’s powerless to stop her and he knows it.

After Scorpius is tortured in the maze, he lies there all crumpled and looks at Albus to tell him this is the test he wanted, and Albus just nods and takes it on, because he’ll do anything to stop her at this point, even if he has to die.

When they go back in time, I loved how Albus came right to the front of the stage to look out at Hogwarts, and it felt like a throwback to the scene at the edge of the forbidden forest. I’ve never felt that before, but it was beautiful. It really felt as though he was remembering how he’d seen it when he was with Scorpius, and for the first time in his life he was glad to see it.

Godric’s Hollow

These two in Godric’s Hollow are basically just a touchy-feely flaily mess. It’s a bit ridiculous. I’m not going to talk much about the first of their scenes there, because most of the stuff I love happens in the second one, but here are some highlights from the first:

Scorpius got so excited about Bathilda Bagshot, that Samuel’s voice went way too high pitched and cracked so hard. Poor Scorpius needs to restrain himself before he does serious damage.

I still love how Albus hides from Bathilda now, by running to the wall at the front of the stage and attempting to look super casual. Attempting being the most important word there.

When Albus looks out at where the statue of his dad will be, I love his tiny moment of stillness, where he realises how big this is, that they have to make sure his dad can still save the world. I simply adore how Albus has a hand in ensuring that his dad still becomes the person that he struggles so much to have as a father. I love how that’s part of his healing process.

As they ran off at the end of this scene, it looked like Scorpius was already beginning to have ideas about how they might go about stopping Delphi, he gave a little ‘ooo’ noise, like he’d come up with something.

And then we get to the second Godric’s Hollow scene with the boys.

I love how they play off each other as they’re coming up with the ideas, just bouncing back and forth, and again, feeling like a real little team.

Judgey, despairing Abus really comes to the forefront in this scene, especially in the ‘HELP’ section. I adore how Scorpius goes to all the effort of shouting to demonstrate, and then Albus simply looks at him and goes ‘help’, all deadpan, at a normal volume, and demonstrating how much of an awful idea he thinks Scorpius has come up with.

It’s always great when an audience starts shipping Albus and Scorpius, because you get all these little giggles during their oblivious moments of heartfelt adoration, like in this scene. I heard several people near me laughing when Albus put his arm around Scorpius for “As pleasurable as it would be to hide in a hole with you”. I still can’t entirely believe that Theo is playing it that way. He’s very smart. He has to know what he’s doing, surely?

The “If I had to choose a companion” line was just a thing of breath-taking beauty. There’s no sitting miles apart, or crouching next to each other with these two. They’re facing each other, looking each other dead in the eye, and Scorpius says it directly to Albus. My abiding memory will be of Samuel’s face bathed in this beautiful silver spotlight, gazing at Albus, and saying those words right to him without hesitation. Just stunning.

I adore how Theo does the interaction with Lily, how seeing the blanket pulls him away from Scorpius until he’s standing in the middle of the street. His wave to her is really small and shy, and he gives her one of his patented beautiful smiles. There was something about how he played that moment where it became almost about him trying to blend in, by standing out and acknowledging her, it made him feel more like he was meant to be there. He looked like a neighbour giving her a friendly wave or something. It was one of his least awkward moments of blending in throughout the whole time they were in Godric’s Hollow, and while she did seem a tiny bit suspicious of him, she didn’t seem to mind him. It was more confusion than suspicion really.

Even though Scorpius doesn’t get where Albus is going with the blanket idea, he still gets so excited leading up to “I’m still not getting you!” He’s bouncing around like he’s really got it, but nope. He hasn’t got it.

During Scorpius’s eureka moment he goes “YES!” really loudly and leaps about ten feet into the air with his arms and legs all spread in delight. I promise you, if Samuel wasn’t an actor he should be a high jumper or something. He has springs in his feet.

Act Four Scene Fourteen

They were already talking when the lights came up on this scene, and Scorpius was flailing, and Albus was judging him. Pretty standard stuff with these two.

I am never going to get over the way Samuel says “A rose is a rose”, in this ridiculous accent. It’s a little bit different to how it was on the 25th of May, almost more ridiculous now. The words are still pronounced the same (rose is almost ros, with a rolled R at the start), but he takes more time over them now.

Just a brief mention of how adorable Helen is in this scene. Her post Scorpion King laugh just says she’s going to tease Scorpius relentlessly. She knows she has all the power now, and is so looking forward to making the most of it.

There was lap sitting. Brief lap sitting. And then Scorpius started patting Albus on the shoulder, and he said “hey” to Rose, in this really deep voice that was probably meant to be sexy but just made me want to sink into the ground from the second hand embarrassment. Poor kid.

The main highlights of this scene actually come right at the end, and they both destroy me even worse than the finger walking did on the 25th. The hug is beautiful, but the way Samuel says “I wasn’t sure if we should or not” is just so hesitant and uncertain, and suggestive in a way. You can tell that he’s freaking out about what he’s just done, and he isn’t sure if he’s broken some kind of precious code. And every time it makes me more and more curious about what Scorpius really means by this new version of them. What is that version? What’s he got in his head? I’m desperate to ask either Samuel or Theo what they think Scorpius is thinking, but I won’t ever be brave enough.

And then we get to the real best bit. “See you at dinner” is now the most Scorbus feelsy line in the play. Scorpius says it and walks off, and Albus follows him, like he can’t help himself, like he’s desperate to go with him. And Scorpius turns back as he’s walking off, and waves at Albus, and they both pause a second to look at each other, before Albus seems to remember that he has to go to see his dad. There are more important things right this second. (They have year to figure this out, whereas Albus needs his dad right now.) Just that look, the looks they share so often through this play, are super charged and potent. Theo and Samuel’s chemistry is stunning, and they know exactly what to do to make the most of it.

So that’s the end of this ‘short’ recap (I didn’t even get my script out and look at any lines, and it’s still 7.5k words). All I can say is that I absolutely love this cast. They’re being brave and bold, switching out so many things, and it’s absolutely working for them. Their interpretations are wonderful and legitimate, and I’m so proud of the work they’ve done over the last couple of weeks. I for one am so excited to see them grow, and to learn more insights about what they’re doing and how they’re playing these characters and these scenes.

I don’t see the play for any particular set of actors. I see it because I love the story and the characters and the world. I always want to learn more about those things, that’s my priority, and thankfully in theatre, where there are cast changes and covers and it’s live every night, you get to learn so much every single time you sit in any of those seats. I’m so grateful for that. And I am also grateful that the show is in such wonderful hands. This cast aren’t the finished article yet, but they’re already bloody brilliant, so I’m unbelievably excited to see where they’re at in a few months, or in a years’ time.

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itsahamandjlaur-blog · 7 years

Text

Just, Breathe - Part 2

Summary: Pasts do not define futures if you let them. You can only move forward and hope for the best.

Prompt: “I just don’t think I can do this anymore” “Who gave you the right?” “You’re a coward you always have been” very angst Daveed x Reader or Lin x Reader, please! - Anon (the other prompts will be in the next parts I promise)

Warnings: swearing, Angst, implied smut, sexual Spanish references

words: 3,050 (non chill Gee is back at it again.

A/N: You guys asked me for some fuck me up real good angst soo I did this? This was actually really fun to write and Marti helped me a lot with the dialog because i fucking SUCK, but I’m so happy with how it turned out. There is 100% going to be another part if you guys want it that is. So if you enjoy this please let me know so I can start working on the second half asap. Thank you for reading this, this is the first time i’ve stepped back from something and thought i actually like this. Be safe and stay lovely. I love you. - A.Ham (Gee)

Tags: @yehummno @ruth-hamilton-delrio (because i know this killed ya) @isis278

Masterlist

Part 1 I Part 2 I Part 3 (coming soon)

Prompts

- Flashbacks are in italics.

Your eye scanned over the pages and pages of notes whilst you picked out the harmonies of the different cast members in the room. Every note hit home, you had read and reread the sheet music a thousand times since you had agreed to take over from Alex, wanting to make a point that you deserved to be here as much as the next person, even if you didn't feel like you did. As you listened to the voices glide through the verses your ears pricked on something different.

"guys, hang on" you sighed out fairly loud to be heard. The melody ceased as you made your way up the stairs to stand down stage. You slinked towards Lin chewing on your check as you did so. "you're flat, its putting me off" you shot him a pointed look. There was a small part in your brain that thought he may be doing this on purpose. He knew exactly how much it bothered you when something didn't sit right, it would play on your mind and completely drive you insane. God help if someone sang over a song out of time, they might as well be dead to you at that point.

"I think I got this [y/n], i'm far from flat" he brushed off taking a sip of water, his eyes skimming over your frame as if it was a challenge. You raised a brow.

"sorry, I forgot, refresh my memory, who did you hire to conduct this musical?" you enquired with the most sarcastic tone you would fathom.

"who wrote the god damn thing?" his attitude way too cocky for his own good. How fucking dare he, who does he think he is? Staring you down with a face like thunder. The eyes of every other cast member burned into you from all angles.

"you had no idea what you were doing back then either" you shook your head down to the floor. "If you have an issue with me doing my job just speak up would you, god knows it's never stopped you before" you added leaving a wake of gasps and eye rolls.

"guys, lets call it a day get some rest before tonight, I think someone needs to cool off" Tommy released the tension in the air with a clap of his hands before the whole stage started to disburse off into the wings. You gathered your paperwork once you reached the piano, gently tapping the pages to line up with each other. Internally, you cursed yourself for letting him get to you. He had no right to make you feel unwelcome, between all the hard work you had put into In The Heights and any other god damn whim Lin wen't off on, you deserved the right amount of respect to do your job properly.

"I'm sorry" you heard Lin say barely even a whisper. You were quite sure that your head had just made it up and you carried on filing the papers into their proper place.

"I knew I was flat, I was trying to mess with you and i'm sorry" he said louder this time, making sure that you definitely heard it. Your eyes grazed up at him a questioning tone hung in the air around the both of you. You couldn’t help but feel like he was still playing games. For the duration of your entire engagement it felt like a huge game of seeing how far he could push you before you would finally snap and called it off. You never did. You loved Lin with all of your heart and the thought of having to call of the wedding you planned for too long, saved too much money and spent hours picturing in your head made you feel sick to your stomach. It was something that you would never do because long story short all you really wanted was to marry him. He was your best friend and your partner in crime through everything, that was, until he wasn’t.

_______________________________________________________________________

"we're not the same people we were [y/n]" he ran a hand through his messy hair, the dark locks pointing in every which way they could find. "things have changed, we have changed"

You stared at him from your side of the room. Lin paced back and forth like there was an invisible boundary that he knew not the cross.

"bullshit Lin, I haven't changed one bit and you know that. I'm not as good of an actor as you, I can't change my persona at the drop of a hat its not me, its you" you stepped closer. "you've changed, you want more out of this relationship then i can give you. You're taking things from me that I can't give you" a flash of recognition graced across his face but was quickly replaced by anger. You wanted nothing more then for this stupid fight to be over. When you announced the wedding everyone was over the moon and most of all you were happy. The thought you of spending your life with your best friend meant so much more to you then a dress and a cake. It meant that you would have a lifetime of growing and learning new and wonderful things about each other every day. you savoured that, every last drop that Lin would give you as a glimpse inside his mind you cherished with all your heart. Sure between the years you had fights like this, but they always blew over, nothing really came of them. You would throw something at him (granted it may have been a cushion or too you didn't want to actually harm the poor guy), the both of you would shoot insults back and forth at each other for a while until you both ended up laughing at something stupid and putting the argument to rest. Thats how you worked. Two fiery personalities in one apartment could get intense sometimes but that was who you were as a couple.

"I think we need to cancel the wedding" he made the comment without even being able to look you in the eyes, like he was ashamed. Ashamed of the fact that he was breaking your heart, ashamed of the fact that he was admitting he was wrong for the first time in your relationship. _______________________________________________________________________

You looked him in the eyes for the first time in 6 years. All the love that was once shared between the two of you was certainly not lost. His hands ran through each other in a nervous fashion, in some attempt to keep his cool.

"you haven't changed a bit Lin" you stuffed the now level papers into your bag before picking up your jacket and slipping it onto your torso. "you constantly think that you can say sorry and everything will be fixed" using every excuse to fiddle with things in your bag so you didn't have to look up and see his pleading eyes boring into you again.

"are you going to throw the fact that i cancelled the wedding in my face after all these years?" he was angrier now. His hands braced themselves into fits at his sides, dark brow furrowed out of pure frustration.

"well you did so i'm going to go out on a limb and say, yes" you said swinging your bag over your shoulder. He stopped you. Dragging your shoulder back until you spun around to meet him face to face, you didn't realise how close you actually were until both of your noses practically touched. His breath was warm against your lips as he towered over you. It may have been years yet he still had a strange intoxicating effect over the whole of you.

You sighed. "just let me do my job, and do yours properly. I don't want to be a part of your games anymore Miranda" you shot turning away from him. You made a b-line back to your office locking the door behind you. There wasn't a chance in hell you were going to let him throw you off your game tonight.

_________

On a normal day, your earlier run in with Lin would have thrown you off your game. However, there was no time to be off your game on opening night. You pushed all notion of nerves and anger aside and focused on doing your job to the best of your ability and let me tell you something, you did. Your first night at Hamilton was the best show that you had ever done and you knew it. So when the cast let their open palms point towards you in the pit you were more the happy to stand and wave to the surrounding people cheering every single person who worked on the show that night. You spun around to greet the audience placing a hand over your heart in thanks, you were truly moved by the way that you had been welcomed into the Hamilton family, so it was no surprise when a stage hand handed Lin a mic and he coughed in order to command silence over the theatre.

"As many of you know, Mr Alex Lacamoire has left us in the very capable hands of Miss [y/n] [y/l/n]" he paused smiling up at the crowd from the crumbled piece of paper in his hands. There was a round of applause until he held up his hand to signal silence once again. "I am more then happy to welcome her back into not only mine but the rest of this cast's lives, [y/n] is one of the greats and I very thankful to have her as a part of this family" you let yourself get a slight tear in your eye as you beamed up at him centre stage, no matter how mad you were with him he always had a way with words that penetrated every single fibre of your being. He looked down at you, his brown eye glinting with love before he lifted the mic to his mouth one last time.

"always"

After everything has settled down and each of the respective cast mates had filed into their dressing rooms to get changed for the night ahead you headed to your office sliding on the dress you had chosen for the afterparty. You had insisted that there was no need for a party but between everyone else they had decided that you needed one, apparently. Something about tradition and you were in no mood to argue with tradition at the prospect of cocktails. _______________________________________________________________________

The bar as full of people that you knew but you honestly felt like a stranger. The last time you were here you were with Lin. You were happy, new love was blossoming and you were basking in the entirety of its glory, at this point it felt like you couldn't let the memories stop pouring back through your brain like polaroids in the dark room that was your brain, and boy did they come flooding back.

_______________________________________________________________________

Your palm rested lightly on his bicep, as the atmosphere of the room swept you up, whipping all of the emotions that lingered around you into a frenzy. You looked up at the gentleman in front of you. You couldn't help but tell yourself that he was quite handsome. Picking a patch of lint of hiss lapel you ignored everything he said focusing on the rise and fall of his chest as he laughed at his own joke.

You laughed back, a subconscious nod to the fact that you didn't have a clue what he just said. Before you could gather anymore of your own thoughts a strong grasp made itself present on your own arm. The icy touch making you gasp slightly. You didn't have to let your mind run wild or fast to figure our who the hand belonged to. Merely the feel of Lin's hands on you made you extremely aware of his presence.

"Excuse me, [y/n] can I borrow you for a second?" He asked to no one in particular, almost as if he didn't intend the statement to leave his mouth as a question. "press thing, excuse us" he turned to the man you had just been conversing with and pulled you away. Weaving in and out of the crowd you wondered how many people could actually see what was going on. You knew you were in trouble, and you knew it wasn't going to end in your favour.

As the winter air hit your lungs you almost choked. "what do you think you're going [y/n]?" Lin asked moving round to face you. In his normal disposition he would have added a cocked eyebrow to emphasise the fact that he wasn't actually pissed at you. There was no cocking of any eyebrow at this point, his face was a pure picture of him waiting for an answer.

"I was talking with that man, you told me to socialise. I was doing as i was told for once" you shot back quicker then your mind could compute that you made a poor choice of words. "Do you think this is a game? Oh, my dear you are highly mistaken" he replied rocking back and forth on his heels. He was practically fizzing.

You let your hip slide to the side in a questioning manor, this drove him crazy. The fact that you could use your body to drive him insane and make him question his thought process was something that he was always in awe of. Tonight, not the case.

"This is not a game, if someone sees you flirting with other men that gives other men permission to flirt with you. Do you really think thats appropriate after the last few months? What do you think was about to happen?" he enquired crossing his arms across his broad chest.

"[Y/N]!" your head whipped from the intent stare you held with Lin to the voice of your friend drunkly running out of the event. "[y/n] you know me and free bars, who is this?" she slurred pointing towards the angry man who now made his way towards your side, letting a hand drift to rest in the open back of your dress. "Lin, i'm [y/n]'s boyfriend, nice to meet you" his attitude shifted. The smile playing on his lips reached each side of his face as he took your friend's hand in his to shake. "It's cold out here no, we should get going, I'll get us a cab" if this man's demenor changed anymore within a short space of time you were pretty sure you were going to end up with whiplash god damn it.

He placed a soft kiss behind your ear, to everyone on the outside, an innocent act. However it was only you that felt his finger tips press into the soft skin of your back. It was only you that heard the spat tone of "Make an excuse, get in the cab" and before you could find a sarcastic comment to respond with he left your skin lingering with feathered fingerprint bruises and he was at the edge of the curb hailing a car.

"Well" you sighed gathering the long pool of silk that was your dress up around your wrist. "Enjoy the free bar sweetie, we must get coffee soon!' you called back flashing a reassuring smile behind you before sliding into the cab. Lord knows what would face you on the other end of short journey. You dreaded it, but you also couldn't help but press your tights tightly against each other at the thought of it.

You slammed the door not bothering to let him finish the sentence that had bearly left his throat. A cold front came over your entire body, the random chit chat that Lin had engaged you in on the way home was not something you cared for. Apparently tonight he gave a damn what your cab driver over heard, it had never really stopped him before.

Letting the train of your dress glide over the dark wood floors of his apartment your eyes burned into the back of you.

"who gave you the right?" he asked into thin air tugging his tie loose.

You didn't answer, you simply threw your handbag onto the couch before walking over to the large windows that framed the city skyline perfectly. Lights illuminating every single asset of the city. Your teeth tugged on your bottom lip subconsciously as he strode towards you reaching for your waist as he did.

"you should know by now i don't like someone admiring whats mine" he breathed down your neck letting his teeth grazing over the soft skin at the nape.

"I'm yours Lin, you know that" you whispered not sure whether you were in the right place to talk back or not, however you were feeling extra brave with pushing your luck tonight. His fingers tugged at the zipper on your side, as he moved his free hand to fist the hair at the base of your neck tugging down slowly earning a low moan to escape your throat. You were clearly not in the right place to talk back to him at this moment. He let out a breathy chuckle.

"always an answer for everything mi amor" your breath hitched as he pressed himself around you. consuming every single part of your senses as he let his teeth trail across the top of your ear before he whispered. "enviar"

_______________________________________________________________________

"hey lady of the hour, I lost you for a minute there" a slight look of concern crossed Lin's face as he questioned you letting his hand rest comfortably on the small of your back like before. It was all too much. between every single moment that the both of you had shared and every single moment you still had to share you knew you wouldn't be able to go another moment before doing this. For whatever reason every single ounce of feeling that you had every felt for this damn man came flooding back to you and for this reason and this reason alone.

You kissed him.

#lin manuel miranda #lin x reader #lin manuel x reader #lin manuel miranda x reader #hamilton #alexander hamilton #broadway #fanfic #lin manuel fanfic #gee is extraaaaaa

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reijiakabutt · 7 years

Text

Up, Up, and Away!

I heard you were going through a tough time right now so I wrote some robustshipping for you. I hope things get better for you eventually because you’re a cool person and you deserve some peace of mind.

When Kaito took Haruto to the amateur magician show at the park he honestly hadn’t expected much. Some basic sleight of hand, pulling a coin out from behind someone’s ear, guessing someone’s card, stuff like that. Nothing very remarkable but completely serviceable as entertainment for a kid Haruto’s age.

Boy, Kaito couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” bellowed the magician, “Watch as I make my lovely assistant lighter than air! Behold!”

And with a wave of his cane the beautiful girl beside him started floating up, up, up into the sky. The soles of her shoes just barely within the musician’s reach. And with a gentle push of his hand she was off. The audience let out a collective gasp. Somehow, without any wind or flapping, she flew effortless around the crowd, her hands free to wave to her adoring public below. If Kaito hadn’t known any better he would’ve mistaken her for an angel.

“Nii-sama, your cheeks are red. Have you been in the sun too long?”

“N-no, Haruto. I’m fine.”

She circled around a few more times before returning to the magician’s side. Irrationally, Kaito wished she had flown a little closer to him and Haruto.

“Great job, Asuka! You can come down now!”

“I would if I could,” her voice suddenly taking on an edge of distress, “but I just can’t! Oh, Sensei whatever will I do if I’m stuck like this forever!”

A wave of concern rippled through the children in the crowd.

“Yes, that would certainly be inconvenient.” The magician hummed himself, pondering what to do. Then his eyes lit up with an idea. “I got it! Quick, everybody pass your junk food up to the stage! Hotdogs! Funnel Cake! French fries! Anything is fine as long as it’s fatty!”

The girl kicked him. Her foot narrowly missed his head and instead knocked his ridiculous hat askew. The magician hadn’t even flinched. They must’ve practiced that move a lot.

“Sensei, be serious!”

“Right, right. Sorry,” he said as straightened out his hat, “Just having a little fun. But don’t worry! I know exactly what the problem is and it’s very easily fixed!”

“Really? That’s great, Sensei!”

“Yes! However, it’s a two man job. So I need someone very brave to help me out. Perhaps there is such a person in our audience today?”

Every child’s hand shot up, including Haruto’s, and since he was resting snugly on his older brother’s shoulders his hand rose far above the rest.

So of course he would attract the magician’s attention.

“Mr. Magician, Mr. Magician, pick my big brother! He’s the bestest big brother in the whole wide world. He’ll definitely be able to save your assistant!”

“Bestest big brother in the whole wide world, huh? Who am I to turn down someone with such high credentials! Please, bestest brother, step right on up.”

Kaito didn’t really want to be a part of the act but if Haruto wished it he could hardly refuse him. So gently he set Haruto on the ground and made his way to the stage. The crowded parted to let him pass and in no time at all he reached the makeshift stage. He climbed on and the stage shook a little from his weight.

“Thank you, sir! Everyone, a round of applause for the courageous young man!”

Like a good audience they clapped and cheered for him as asked. He would’ve preferred it if they saved it for after he done something worth applauding. It did nothing to alleviate the discomfort he felt on stage either. A discomfort, if he was being totally honest with himself, which had nothing to do with the crowd and everything to do with the girl hovering above him. Just knowing she was so close had his stomach doing back flips. Which didn’t make any sense so he elected to ignore his body and focus on scanning the crowd for Haruto instead. But he couldn’t find him before the Magician was demanding his attention again.

“Young man, this is a very delicate situation so you must do exactly as I say. If you don’t our dear Asuka may never come down again! Are you absolutely certain you can do this?”

Kaito shrugged. How hard could it be?

The magician smiled and slapped him so hard on the back he knocked the air right out of his lungs. “Good! Here’s what you have to do.”

The magician leaned in close and whispered the instructions into his ear. The crowd had no idea what he said but somehow it made Kaito’s face turn a bright crimson.

“I am not doing that,” he said firmly.

“You have to! It’s the only way!”

Kaito was about to tell the man tough toenails and be on his way when…

“Please, sir! I don’t want to be a blimp for the rest of my life!”

It was that girl. Asuka. Kaito rolled his eyes. If she could crack a joke she was obviously not in any immediate danger. Someone else could go get her. He was leaving with his dignity intact.

“Wait! Don’t go!”

He looked up at her in surprise. That was the first time she had addressed him directly. Up until now she had been talking to the crowd. It was way more effective than it should have been. Just as he couldn’t say no to Haruto earlier, he found he couldn’t say no to her either.

“…okay.”

“Splendid, splendid! Then there’s no time to waste! We can’t keep the lady waiting!”

But before Kaito could ask how he would even get to her without a ladder, the magician waved his cane again and just as Asuka had he started floating up, up, up into the air.

“What the…!”

How was he flying? It shouldn’t be possible! Not without wires of some kind and he would definitely feel if he had been wired up.

“No time to lollygag! Hop to it!”

And suddenly he was being pulled towards Asuka, like a needle to a magnet. It was a strange sensation, to say the least, and one he could not say he cared for.

He didn’t need to worry about it for too much longer though because as soon he was face to face with Asuka the mysterious force disappeared. He was still suspended in the air, something was holding him up, but it wasn’t the same force as before. So he “stood” there, looking into her eyes, confusion evident on his face. How was any of this possible?

“Young man, are you alright? I don’t need to send someone to rescue you too, do I?”

The crowd laughed his joke and for what felt like the thousandth time that day Kaito’s face flushed.

“He’s okay! Just enjoying the view,” Asuka yelled back.

“Seriously though, are you alright?”

For a second Kaito’s mind went blank. She had leaned in and her face was now a centimeter from his. It was the first time he’d been this close to a girl, much less one this pretty.

Kaito shook himself. There were more important matters to focus on. Like how he was floating.

“How is this possible?”

“Magic, of course.”

Kaito suppressed a groan, remembering the old adage about magicians never revealing their secrets.

“Hey don’t you have a little something for me? In your jacket pocket, maybe?”

That surprised Kaito. The magician had indeed slipped something into his pocket for this little performance but it happened so fast that not even Kaito had caught him doing it. It was as if one second his pockets had been empty and the next the prop was just there.

“Er-yes.” He took out the rose out of his pocket. It was blue like her jacket and surprisingly unruffled. “For you.” There, he gave it to her. The magician would just have to be satisfied with that cause no way in hell was he going to say something as cheesy as for loveliest rose of all.

Asuka accepted the rose with all the dignity and grace of an actor pretending nothing was wrong when someone had obviously botched their lines.

“Thank you. It’s beauti—ouch!” She gave an exaggerated yelp of pain and quickly stuck her finger into her mouth. She was acting as if though she’d been pricked when in reality the stem was bare.

Then, faintly at first, he heard it. The unmistakable sound of helium escaping a balloon. And as Asuka sunk lower and lower and lower the sound got louder and louder and louder. Kaito, however, followed her down silently. It was like the gentle, gradual release of a pressure he hadn’t even known was there.

When the both of them finally touched down on the stage, the crowd burst into applause. The beautiful assistant was once again firmly on the ground.

“Good job, young man!” The magician tried giving Kaito another pat on the back but this time Kaito was prepared. If the magician was bothered that he dodged he didn’t show it though, still flashing him that big, dopey grin.

“But wait, Sensei! There’s still one thing I don’t get.”

Only one thing?

“Yes, Asuka?” The magician turned to face her. “And what’s that?”

“Why did you need a volunteer? Couldn’t you have just come up and given me the rose yourself?”

Kaito whipped his head around to look at her too. There was a genuine note of curiosity and confusion in her question. And the way her brows furrowed and her head tilted ever so slightly to the side just confirmed it. Could it be that he wasn’t supposed to be a part of the act?

The magician just laughed.

“That’s simple really! Between a handsome prince and an old geezer like myself which would a young lady prefer to get a flower from?”

The crowd laughed along, some even screaming out “handsome prince!”

The only people completely silent were the two mortified teenagers standing stiffly on the stage, their faces an identical shade of red.

#gift #submission #robustshipping #fanfic #!!!#i'm actually crying a lot #i was grinning the whole time thank you so much ;-; i really loved this

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likedbuzz-blog · 7 years

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Celebrity IQs That Will Shock You!

http://likedbuzz.com/celebrity-iqs-will-shock/

Celebrity IQs That Will Shock You!

Never judge a book by its cover because you’ll be surprised by its contents. Celebrities are stereotyped as people who are just all about looks. We often think celebrities give up their education to just make money off their physical skills or talents. But what we don’t know is that some celebrities actually have an IQ which can earn them high-payed corporate jobs! Doesn’t matter if they’re from an Ivy League University or any other academic institution, let’s take a look at the celebrities you can rather refer to as, “Celebrity Geniuses”.

Presidential IQ estimation is based on Dr. Simonton’s study, which measures their intellectual brilliance, personality traits, achievements and openness to experience.

You Won’t Believe How High Their IQ Is!

Click Next And Find Out

Ashton Kutcher at 160

Known for his numerous “dumb” or “not-so-bright” roles, Ashton Kutcher gained popularity when he played Michael Kelso on That 70’s Show. What people didn’t know is that this actor who played so much “foolish” or “stupid” roles, is actually a pretty smart guy! He has an IQ of 160. – We guess it takes a smart guy to be good at acting stupid!

Bill Clinton at 148

IQ score is estimated by American psychologist Dean Simonton

A graduate of the prestigious Yale Law School, Bill Clinton has an IQ of 148. He had a very great political journey that led to him becoming the 42nd President of the United States of America. Hillary Clinton, his wife, recently lost to Donald Trump for the Presidency. If ever his wife won, he would’ve been the first ever “First Gentleman”.

Cindy Crawford at 154

Cindy Crawford is a very well-rounded woman, and we don’t mean it in the physical sense. She was one of the first supermodels in the world, and a very accomplished actress and movie star. On top of that, Cindy proved that she has the brains that come with her beauty; with an IQ of 154 this amazing woman seems to good to be true!

Aisha Tyler at 156

Well known for her role as one of Ross’ and Joey’s girlfriends on the hit show Friends, Aisha Tyler’s is a very smart woman with an IQ of 156. Her career as an actress ever since Friends. She also appeared on shows like The Talk, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently, Criminal Minds.

Conan O’Brien at 160

Being a successful comedian or “funny guy” is not easy. The smarter you are, the more funny jokes you get to make actually. Conan O’ Brien was known for his talk show. But what viewers didn’t know is that he was actually a graduate from the prestigious university, Harvard. He has an IQ of 160 making him a comedic genius.

Alicia Keys at 154

Famous singer, songwriter, and judge on the hit show The Voice, Alicia Keys has an IQ of 154. She is definitely one of the most beautiful women in the world and it is just the icing on top that she has the brains to go with her awesome talent. With her beautiful face, she could’ve stepped into modeling. But no, we’re thankful she chose to serenade us with her loving voice.

Bill Gates at 180

This guy is in known around the world for he is the Co-Founder of Microsoft. Microsoft is a software almost everyone uses on their computers. He is said to be so smart that he is even smarter than a scientist. He has an IQ of 180. His IQ is said to be even higher than Stephen Hawkings who is an expert in science.

Arnold Schwarzenegger at 135

Known for his role in The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger was known for his unique physique. Being a former Mr. Universe, he surely knew how to take care of his body. But looks are not the only thing great about this guy. Schwarzenegger is also a very smart guy. He has an IQ of 135. He also became the Governor of California.

Kesha at 140

At a very young age, Kesha became one of the hottest and most famous recording artists ever. People often judge her bizarre fashion or makeup choices and come up with a conclusion that she’s just all that. But what man people don’t know is that aside from being talented she was also blessed with some intellect. Kesha’s IQ is 140.

Meryl Streep at 143

Meryl Streep is dubbed as the “Best Actress of Her Generation”. Her talents, may it be on stage or on screen, are definitely remarkable. It seems like as she grows older, she just keeps getting better and better. With that being said, we think it’s pretty obvious that she is an intelligent woman. She has an IQ of 143.

Natalie Portman at 140

There are a million reasons why men will go head-over-heels for this girl. Natalie Portman is one of the dreamiest girls to ever share her acting talent with us. From her face down to her toes, she just seems so perfect. But to top it all of, she matches her looks with a bright mind. With her IQ of 140, she is an activist and she can speak 6 languages. – her husband is definitely one lucky guy!

Stephen Hawking at 160

You all may know this guy as that “scientist guy in the wheelchair with a robot voice”. Stephen Hawking is a famous theoretical physicist and we don’t think anyone will doubt his intelligence. With an IQ of 160, he is said to be one of the Greatest Minds of All Time and he has made countless contributions to the field of science.

Asia Carrera at 156

Maybe not everyone knows Asia Carrera, but people who are fond of adult entertainment will surely know this girl. Adult actresses are always labeled as bums or dumb people who result to stooping down to the lowest of lows. But for Asia, that wasn’t the case. She is a very smart girl with an IQ of 156.

Ben Stein at 150

Ben Stein has an IQ of 150. He is an actor most popular for his role in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He is also a speechwriter for two past American Presidents, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. He is known for writing and speaking about topics involving politics and economics.

Colin Firth at 160

Playing the role of King George VI in 2010’s The King’s Speech gained him notoriety for he was multi-awarded for it. Colin Firth isn’t just any other cutie we see on the big screen. He is a very smart guy with an IQ of 160. He is also known for his roles in Bridget Jones Diary and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Dolph Lundgren at 160

Dolph Lundgren is a known action star. He was most popular for his fight scene in the movie, Rocki IV. For action movies, it’s a given they’d cast people based on brawn rather than brains. Well Dolph is not just a muscle

You probably know Dolph Lundgren from his fight with Rocky in Rocky IV. He’s an action star, so it’s only natural that he plays roles that prefer muscleheads that prefer brawn over brain, but the surprising thing is that Dolph actually has an IQ of 160. We’re sure that shocked you (as it did us) but Dolph is quite intelligent.

Emma Watson at 138

Emma Watson first enchanted our hearts when she first played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter Series. Since then, with her awesome acting skills, she’s made a ton of movies. But Emma isn’t just a pretty face with great acting skills; she’s also really intelligent with an IQ of 138. She’s also a speaker for women’s rights.

Garry Kasparov at 190

You have to be quite smart to play chess, what more if you want to actually compete in tournaments. Garry Kasparov was a former “World Chess Champion. We don’t think anyone would doubt his intelligence since he is said to be the greatest chess player of all time. He has a crazy high IQ of 190 which is the highest on this list.

Geena Davis at 140

Geena Davis is known for her roles in movies like Beetle Juice and Stuart Little. When you first look at her all you see is a gorgeous beautiful woman. What is not obvious is that Geena is actually intelligent. She has an IQ of 140. She really redefines the modern woman by showing that having brains makes a woman more attractive.

George H.W. Bush at 130

IQ score is estimated by American psychologist Dean Simonton

Known as the 41st President of the United States of America and the Director of the CIA, George H.W. Bush was said to be very intellectual with an IQ of 130. He is the father of George W. Bush who followed in his footsteps by also becoming president. His son became the 43rd President of the United States of America.

Hillary Clinton at 140

IQ score is estimated by American psychologist Dean Simonton

Hillary Clinton was very smart with an IQ of 140. After all, she studied in the prestigious, Yale Law School. She is the wife of the 42nd President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton. Clinton has been into politics her whole entire life. Just recently, she was so close to becoming the first female president of the United States.

James Franco at 130

This guy does a very good job in convincing his viewers into thinking that he may be as stupid as he is in his movies. James Franco was known for his very foolish and comedic roles. But what surprised us is that he is actually a very smart guy with an IQ of 130. He’s definitely smart enough to not care if people think he’s stupid in real life.

James Woods at 180

Starting out as a broadway star then later becoming a renowned actor, James woods has a very successful career. He has appeared in over 130 films and TV shows. Just when we thought we knew everything about him, turns out that James is actually blessed with great intellect. His IQ of 180 beats the IQ of some notable scientists.

Jodie Foster at 132

Being dubbed as one of the Best Actresses of Her Generation, Jodie Foster had a pretty long and successful career. From being a child model to a teen star, then later on a remarkable actress, she surely deserves the applause. But behind her success, she’s not just all talent and beauty. She is very intelligent with an IQ of 132.

Jordana Brewster at 130

Made popular by her role as Mia Toretto in the hit franchise The Fast and The Furious, Jordana Brewster is one of the hottest women to appear on the big screen. Aside from her killer bikini bod, she also has another attribute to drool on; her keen mind. She has an IQ of 130. Today, she appears on shows such as Lethal Weapon and Secrets and Lies.

Kate Beckinsale at 160

Known for her very action-packed role in the Underworld movies, Kate Beckinsale is definitely a man’s dream come true. She is like a complete package and is very well rounded with an IQ of 160, which is actually one of the highest IQs on this list. – Would you be willing to get bitten by this gorgeous vampire?

Ken Jeong at 130

This man definitely knows how to make all of us laugh since he is one of the funniest comedians today. Ken Jeong or also known as Mr. Chow in the Hangover films, is not just all for gags. What will take us by surprise is the fact that he is actually a licensed physician with an IQ of 130. – we wonder, how do his patients take him seriously?

Kevin Spacey at 137

Kevin Spacey, throughout his career, has achieved countless things. He is said to be very smart and has an IQ of 137. With that being said, we guess you can say it’s easier for him to achieve a lot of things. From winning countless awards to venturing out into becoming a director/screenwriter/singer, he definitely knew how to maximize his capabilities.

Lisa Kudrow at 154

Another comedian who will shock us with an unpredictable mental capacity is Lisa Kudrow. This funny actress has a high IQ of 154. Lisa Kudrow is most popularly known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in one of the most legendary sitcoms of all time, Friends. She did a good job playing a typical blonde air head. – bet you guys didn’t expect her to be on this list!

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