My one and only concept for a Twelfth Night adaptation is that Orsino was in love with Olivia's brother, not Olivia herself. I think it would be fun to bring out the theme of substitution (Sebastian for Viola in Olivia's case, and in some ways, Viola for Cesario in Orsino's) It would also bring out the grief/mourning/ghosts aspect more to the forefront: Orsino is pursuing Olivia only because she reminds him of her brother.

Also Malvolio should be a woman

Viola is a gifted soccer player who's school has just cut girl's sports. When her twin brother Sebastian decides to go to London to chase a gig, Viola decides to enroll in his new school as her brother. "His" roommate Duke is both a complete hottie and the captain of the soccer team. In order to score a place on the team "Sebastian" agrees to help Duke get with his crush Olivia. However Olivia is totally gone for "Sebastian"! Shenanigans ensue as the difference between girls and guys in both love and sports is explored.

This is a hilarious and irreverent take on Twelfth Night starring Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum. It's incredibly quotable, tons of fun, and a great modern adaptation.

Shirtless Channing Tatum. Positive messages about masculinity! Very quotable. Random acting part for Vinnie Jones. Amanda Bynes at her comedy peak! The shoehorning in of a Shakespeare quote at the end from a play that isn't twelfth night! Peak 2000s romcom

A high school take on the Malvolio Gulling subplot. Sixteen-year-old Marshall Gardner is 1) straight-laced, 2) exacting, 3) judgemental, and 4) perfectionistic. And below the surface, kept hidden from the rest of the world, he’s 5) controlled by his obsessions and compulsions, 6) fixated on the number twelve, 7) hopelessly in love with his best (only) friend, and 8) horrendously imperfect. He’s also 9) universally disliked, 10) the self-made enemy of the former GSA president, 11) just a little too easy to trick, and 12) in trouble.

This book is sooooo fucking good it’s my comfort read!!! Max asks the brave brave question of what if twelfth night was about a high schooler who i want to squeeze like a stress ball and it makes me feel insane. 12/10 book of all fucking time please read it

THIS STORY FUCKS. extremely hard. i read it before i even read twelfth night and let me tell you it works just as well as a stand-alone story as a retelling. it uses the subplot of twelfth night revolving around the servants (which deserves more attention, as a side note) to explore gender and neurodivergence and the inherent horror of being sixteen and it executes every theme extremely well. if you have maybe half an hour to spare honestly sit down and read the whole thing right now. it's so good. sir toby is a lesbian. what more could you want

read the whole thing here

He was only half-informed about the last month’s proceedings at the school but that what he did know, terrified him. Dante Malvolio was no charm to be around but predictable; stable even. After his death, it would have made sense for his contract to be nullified or his arrival at least delayed. The fact that neither happened, only made him more suspicious. Who was Delphine Delecaille? That question rested on his mind throughout the entire journey.

…

“BAH!”, Strix barked loudly and ripped the box out of the girl’s hands. Some of the books were hundreds of years old, some of the artefacts even before his time. Yet the slave seemed to have no curiosity, let alone appreciation for the items that she previously held. “Give me that! Useless thing…” He could feel all eyes on him. The slave in front of him had the decency to waver, obviously uncertain how to deal with him whilst the others were doing their best to pretend that they were somewhere else. “What are you waiting for?” His gaze was stern, expectant even. She had no response for him. “Go! Go, before I lose myself!”

And then he was alone. Other students had taken the advice to heart, following the girl to comfort her, or to simply avoid his temper. Strix sighed and put down the box. His classroom would not be far now, but without the watchful eyes of the others, he had finally some time to take in his new workplace. It was surprisingly… ordinary for a school of magic. He quite liked that. Yet it was not long until the silence was noted by someone else. Strix’s phase darkened at once. Who was there to disturb him now?

Dollar Bin #11:

Graham Nash's Wild Tales

Graham Nash is the Malvolio of the Dollar Bin. In case Shakespeare's 12th Night is not instantly at your fingertips, here's the run down: Nash/Malvolio spends his existence/the play looking down on all the drunk David Crosbys/Sir Tobys around him. He thinks he's an equal to the geniuses about him (Joni Mitchell is his Viola; Neil Young his Feste) and he's a competitor with the biggest dope in history (Stephen Stills, of course / the Duke Orsino).

Malvolio winds up cross-gartered in yellow tights, sure he's the star of the play. In actuality he's the laughing stock.

Malvolio = Nash. Check them out.

But Wild Tales has more potential than anything else in Nash's oeuvre. Here's a list of why this album should not suck:

The cover photo, taken by the omnipresent Joel Bernstein, gives us hope that this is a concept record about Middle Earth with Nash playing the role of Tom Bombadil's willowy, spaced out neighbor. Look, he even has a book about Ents!

2. The back cover's art is by Joni Mitchell. She must have, inexplicably, still liked Nash on some level. And she sings on one track. Surely, this album cannot suck!

3. Ben Keith is all over this record. Keith is, of course, central to the Fellowship of the Young. He, Briggs, Poncho, Whitten and Nils helped Neil sneak in and out of Mordor time and time again. If Ben Keith plays on a Dollar Bin record, buy it.

4. Joe Yankee plays on this record. (That's Neil Young's nom de plume in the early 70's. Soon Neil would settle on Bernard Shakey instead.) Again, how can this record not be good?

5. This record is from 73. In 71, when Nash put out his first solo record, Nash had reason to think we all wanted to see him in the yellow tights. Deja Vu was fresh, Mitchell had recently tolerated him as a boyfriend and he was the only relatively handsome guy in the world's biggest band. Just check them out.

Listed left to right, there they are in 71: Neil looks like he forgot to do his middle school math homework yet again and teacher will be mad; Greg Reeves looks like he refuses to do any homework, ever; he is working up a mustache instead; Crosby stands before them all proudly, the assistant middle school Gym coach the girls all know to avoid; Stills is a mouth-breather repeating a grade: he wants to do the homework, but knows not how; Dallas Taylor still eats paste.

And then there's Nash behind them all: in 71 Graham clearly thought he was a studly chick-magnet, ready to date multiple high school cheerleaders and make them all cry; plus when he sings "very, very, very fine house" it sounds like he's actually wearing yellow tights, prancing about, praising Jove. Listening to solo music by the guy in 71 seems like a bad idea.

But by 73 Nash should have gained a little perspective. CSN&Y were toast, Mitchell and Young were making timeless music without him and even Stills refused to put his own name on Nash's records (he's listed as Harry Halex on Wild Tales: Stephen Stills not only sucks, he also can't think up fun or even pronounceable fake names. Let me suggest one for you Stephen: Richard Stroker; his friends call him Dick).

And so Nash should have approached Wild Tales like it was his Gettysburg: it was time to charge the enemy screaming, bayonet out. Nash had everything to lose, everything to gain.

Instead, the album is... okay. Side 1 starts with strong promise: Young's rhythm section regulars Johnny Barbata and Tim Drummond lay down a muddy vibe while David Lindley impersonates Neil nicely. Please inform my wife that Lindley's recent look is my new one:

The problem, frankly, is Nash's voice. He always wants us to believe Wild Tales are about to be told but he always sings like he's hawking Cinnamon Toast Crunch during Saturday morning cartoon hour. Stop sounding happy Graham! We hauled this out of the Dollar Bin because we want Acid, Booze and Ass, Needles, Guns and Grass. We do not want laughs.

Prison Song is a highlight, though. The melody swings, Lindley provides swashbuckling mandolin fills and, while I'm not convinced that all the pot dealers then in prison were assuaged by the knowledge that Graham felt for them deeply, I can get behind this song.

But Side 1 ends with two tracks that show what we are missing out on. When Ben Keith wasn't making this record in 73 he was installing street signs in Neil Young's Ditch, making Tonight's the Night. There are echoes of that effervescent vibe in the Nash songs You'll Never Be the Same and, especially, And So it Goes. Young is credited with acoustic piano on the later song, an instrument he plays plenty of on Tonight. And I'm gonna argue right here that Neil plays the electric rhythm guitar as well on this song; if it's not him, it's Ben Keith. And so, musically, the track is a big deal compared to everything else on this record.

But then there's the chorus:

Well there's one thing to try,

Everybody knows.

Music gets you high,

Everybody grows.

And so it goes.

First of all, no one wants to think about Graham sporting a boner during this, or any, song. So that growing line has got to go.

Secondly, listen to the chorus's vocals, and this song sounds like I'm Waiting For My Man rewritten as a Subway commercial. It's now entitled I'm Waiting For My Ham.

Jonathan Richman, who I love, knows better than to try to cover Leonard Cohen. I know not to attend an open casting call for SI's Swimsuit Edition.

But Nash has no idea. He thinks he can rock a two piece; he thinks he is Leonard Cohen. No wonder Neil pretends to be Joe Yankee on the credits.

The album's second side is dull and unmemorable. Joni Mitchell clearly fell asleep while waiting to be cued for her paltry vocals on Another Sleep Song. She sounds disinterested at best.

Last Spring Nash foisted himself back into our consciousness. Stories appeared in the New Yorker, NPR, all over. After Crosby's death, Nash basically insisted that Crosby's last words had been "you're my hero Graham" or something along those lines. In actuality, Crosby's thoughts on Nash for the last decade had been, basically, you ruined my life; eat a sweet one.

At the same time, Nash made a pathetic effort to jump start SN&Y by praising Stills and claiming that Crosby forgave Young at the end. In fact, Crosby had told Neil more than a few times to eat a whole bunch of sweet ones. But no dice Graham: Neil responded to Nash's press push by reuniting with Stills for a benefit show and not inviting Nash. Man, that's low, Neil. Stephen Stills sucks.

Finally, Nash gloried in those same interviews about his love life. After 40 years of marital bliss, he'd recently dumped his wife and took up with a woman younger than most of his kids. The dude is 81, six months younger than my dad.

Someone get me a woody Allen sized bucket. I'm about to throw up; it seems I drank too many Wild Tales.

WIP Music Monday

Rules: Post a song(s) that is relevant to your WIP or inspires it!

Tagged by no one, but was inspired by @nightbloodbix and @adelaidedrubman 's invitation to join in.

Tagging @socially-awkward-skeleton @ishwaris @poisonedtruth @detectivelokis @derelictheretic @direwombat @strangefable @shallow-gravy @gaeadene @henbased and @wrathfulrook + anyone else who is interested.

First Music Monday for me. And in celebration of that I've decided to overindulge and get three songs for my three blog accounts because why not.

One song for a character, one song for a past romance between OCs, and one song for a WIP. Let's start with romance for my FC5 WIP.

For my two FC5 OCs; Sylvester Silva Omar (future junior deputy of Hope County) and her first love, Irene Neon (dreaded daughter of her equally dreaded father, the "Good Doctor" Kamski Neon) from my FC5 WIP Silva's Hope from my @the-silver-chronicles blog.

Here's their romance song for anyone who wants to listen:

Our Love by Curtis Harding ft. Jazmine Sullivan

"There's a girl in town and word's gone around she's just fine So I don't worry my head 'cause I know her heart is tied to mine The life that we live and the love that I give to her Each day it grows more and more, I'm sure it shows.

...

And after all (after all), the rain will fall on us too But I'll keep moving on (moving on), proud and strong with you.

(Our love) Is a bubbling fountain (Our love) That flows into the sea (Our love) Deeper than any ocean (Our love) For eternity."

Next is a character centric song for my British robotics-obsessed backstabbing lying OC Edward Carmine from my @the-untitledverse-blog who will first appear in my WIP Jurassic World: Before The Storm (you can which fandom that belongs in) and so on as the first major antagonist of The Perfect Storm saga.

Here's a song I attribute to him if anyone wants to listen:

I’m So Sorry by Imagin Dragons

"No lies and no deceiving, man is what he loves I keep tryin' to conceive that Death is from above (No time!) I get mine and make no excuses waste of precious breath (No time!) The sun shines on everyone, everyone love yourself to death.

So you gotta fire up, you gotta let go You'll never be loved till you've made your own You gotta face up, you gotta get yours You never know the top till you get too low

...

Life isn't always what you'd think it be Turn your head for one second and the tables turn (yeah!) And I know, I know that I did you wrong But will you trust me when I say that I'll make it up to you Somehow?"

And lastly a WIP centric song for my Love Death + Robots WIP Sonya's Push from my @life-despair-and-monsters-blog where an OC of mine, Sir Enigma Malvolio, messes with and changes the story of Sonnie's Edge because he's just like that one asshole in the multiverse who can travel through dimensions to get to worlds but decides to ruin everyone's lives instead of improving them.

Here's the song I attribute to this WIP whenever I get motivation to write it if anyone wants to listen:

Can't Go to Hell by Sin Shake Sin

"Walk right in all you sinners and saints Tonight's the night we're gonna take off these chains Some wounds will never mend

It came with a warning, now we're all out of time This romance with ignorance has left us behind Sit back, relax, begin

It's too early for surrender Too late for a prayer We can't go to hell if we're already there They say the end is coming And I need to prepare We can't go to hell if we're already there."

Hope you all enjoyed.

it's time for a long as hell post on literally three lines of dialogue from the revstar movie

Hi! So this is the exact kind of literary reference that scratches the exact annoying part of my brain that I save only for magical girl shows and my English major classes, and I wanna talk about it.

This is technically a Shakespeare quote, but it's a bit misleading to frame it like that. In actuality, this is a quote from one of Shakespeare's plays, the dude didn't just say this---which is probably pretty obvious.

We have a habit to attribute the quotes of authors in their works to themselves, and for Shakespeare there are times when this absolutely makes sense. When a character in A Midsummer Night's Dream pauses to tell us about how "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind," it makes a little bit of sense to attribute that to Shakespeare---it's presented as a grain of truth that is passed down to the audience and presented in-narrative as correct. There's definitely some nuance there, but for the most part, it's understandable to interpret that as a lesson that Shakespeare wants us to learn.

This quote is a bit different though, and in a way that I think has some really important implications on Junna and the rest of the Stage Girls.

This quote that Junna and the teacher parrot to one another is from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Affectionately speaking, it's gay-coded and gender as hell. It revolves around a woman dressing up as a man and getting into a wacky, convoluted love triangle. If you've ever seen this iconic image:

That's from a performance of Twelfth Night. The gayness of Twelfth Night isn't that important to this specific post, but it's my duty to mention it anyways.

Twelfth Night has an extended side plot revolving around a group of people pranking a stuck-up, puritan asshole named Malvolio. To do this, they forge a letter from his Lady that seems to imply that she's secretly in love with him, but wants him to do a bunch of silly, embarrassing shit before she can really commit. Malvolio---being super self-absorbed and thinking highly of himself--- completely takes the bait and ends up embarrassing himself so hard that he gets locked in the dungeon until the end of the play.

In this forged letter is where we get the line that we're talking about:

If you're like me, the first thing you'll notice is that Junna and the teacher are missing the last part of the quote! Put a pin in that.

It's important to note that, unlike the aforementioned A Midsummer Night's Dream quote, it's much harder to attribute this to Shakespeare himself.

The quote here is part of a letter written to sound intelligent and poetic enough to stroke Malvolio's ego and manipulate him. It's a nice-sounding sentiment, but it's also presented in-narrative as a kind of hollow one. That's not to say that it isn't true, but it isn't nearly as profound as Malvolio thinks it is, and it's entirely non-genuine as it's just meant to trap Malvolio.

This is also how it's presented in narrative. When Malvolio recites the phrase to the woman that he thinks has written it, she laughs, has no idea what he's talking about, and is then worried he's gone mad.

This is a pretty common Shakespeare trick---a character saying something that seems wise on the surface doesn't actually mean that the character or the quote is particularly smart! If you're a Hamlet fan, you know that any scene with Polonius has him gushing out a bunch of sayings and proverbs to try and seem smarter than he really is.

Let's finally connect this back to Junna.

A big part of Junna's arc in the movie is recognizing that she clings to the words and sentiments of others rather than relying and trusting herself. She doesn't trust herself to be skilled or to have anything particularly useful to say---instead, she buries herself in her studies, planning to continue onto university to study playwrights and performance first until she gets some abstract feeling of preparedness that will allow her to feel confident.

Furthermore, her understanding of the success of others is flimsy. Her quotes that she repeats to herself are terse, devoid of context or understanding. She doesn't fully understand the disconnect between Shakespeare, Maya, Claudine, Nana, and herself, but she feels strongly that there has to be one. She can't pin it down, but she feels as if she's not good enough to continue on with her dreams despite the rest of her peers being totally sufficient in her eyes.

So she clings to this quote--- not understanding that it's a sentiment written to be hollow and sound kind of silly---because that's the only thing she's capable of rationalizing and understanding . She doesn't trust her own emotions and thoughts about what she's worth, but she can digest pithy quotes about greatness just fine.

And the fact that "greatness" in this quote both refers to "something great being achieved" and also "social class" (as Malvolio is of a lower class than the Lady he serves) is important. Junna (and, really, most of the stage girls) see their worth in society as fundamentally tied to the stage and their talent. Junna does not see herself as being born worthy of a place in the world, so she's desperately trying to achieve that position however she can.

...But, she's forgotten (or is ignoring) that last part of the quote. Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. Some have greatness thrust onto them.

Junna and the Stage Girls have such a strong fear of the future in front of them. They don't know how their careers and education will shape out, how their relationships will change, or how they'll end up in general. This is especially true for Junna who, besides Karen and Hikari, arguably is the least sure of what she's planning on doing after Seisho. For as much as the movie is a commentary on art and theatre, it's also very much a story deeply concerned with exiting adolescence and growing up.

And Junna is terrified at that process. She's someone who wants to keep herself locked in a shell for as long as possible until she feels confident enough to face the world.

The one part of the quote that Junna either doesn't remember or doesn't want to recite is the part about the future having plans for you that you don't expect or try for. Which corresponds with basically....every part of her arc in the movie? And is such a rich detail to include in a movie about growing up!

Finally, on a somewhat disconnected note, the fact that Junna attributes this quote to Shakespeare feels very pointed considering the analysis of theatre and art throughout the rest of the series. Just as the Stage Girls are defined by their time on the stage, Shakespeare, too, becomes ultimately a culmination of his plays, their characters, their quotes. The art fundamentally becomes intertwined with the identity of the artist. The Stage Girl becomes the performance she gives.

Vanitas No Carte--College Acting Course AU Pt. 1

Ok, so, this is the first of the AUs I’ve been coming up with that I wanted to share. Kinda the vague idea is placing most of the cast as college students grouped together to create and act in a play based on a Shakespeare production over the course of the semester. After some deliberation, I’ve picked Twelfth Night because either way I’ll have a good Boy-Girl set to play the Viola and Sebastian characters. However, since I want it to be gay and personally headcanon Vanitas as a Biromantic Demisexual who uses he/they pronouns and Noe as gay, the story is going to have some twists. So far, here’s our cast

Director - Amelia Ruth Duke Orsino - Noé Archiviste Viola - Vanitas  Countess Olivia - Jeanne Sebastian- Dominique de Sade Sir Toby - Dante Sir Andrew - Johann Feste - Riche Malvolio - Loki and Luca Oriflamme

Now for some quick notes about the casting and story twists. I didn’t include a Maria character, but that might change in the future. Malvolio is going to be split into two characters--Mal and Volio--with that arc getting some changes to make Mal the one manipulating a young Volio into thinking this is how he’d win Olivia’s love and Toby, Andrew, and Feste trying to stop it. Luca will still be a child. This will be played as less of an entitled man trying to win over a woman and more of a child’s innocent crush being teased by his older brother.

I’m thinking of giving the play a more modern setting, maybe taking inspiration from She’s the Man on the specifics of the plot design. Characters in the play will be getting adapted names.

Finally, my hope is to have the relationships between the characters outside of the play progress in an almost mirrored manner, potentially touching on internalized homophobia for Vanitas’s arc and world view.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or ideas!

ophelia ofc! also malvolio right back at you and. hmm. jean valjean

TY MAX!!

Ophelia:

My best friend, namesake of my blog, and girl who has never done anything wrong in her entire life

Malvolio:

Deranged little man (affectionate)

Edit for the second box: everybody but me AND Max butchhamlet is wrong about them

Jean Valjean:

The man, the myth, the dad

By everyone in the fandom is wrong about them I mean that nobody in the fandom really acknowledges that he exists despite being the main character

Analyzing the 5 plays in this drama club poster .From the bts pics of stranger things 4.

So... some of ya’ll know I'm going through the st s4 films given to us by the official st twitter + the films reffed in the show itself or mentioned by the Duffers in interviews .

So I decided to look at the plays mentioned here. Because even if we don't see the monologues in the show directly - the Duffers wouldn't name drop anything unless it inspired them in some way. Similar to films name dropped in the show. Tw : for some dark themes .

This is just a quick little analysis I decided to do since we probably won't get any new st content today (3/22). Nothing too deep. Just mentioning things that caught my interest especially cause these plays have a lot of narrative connections to the st s4 movies I've been watching.

Invitation to a march (Authur laurents)

Reminds me of the stancy/jancy love triangle. "A young woman is having second thoughts about doing the right thing and marrying a respectable , rich, kind, young man with good prospects.By way of a prewedding diversion, this woman becomes interested in the passionate but poor and entirely unsuitable son of a local landlord.Basically, the plot concerns the efforts of Norma Brown to choose between a conventional fiance who "puts her to sleep" but is wealthy (like what her own mother did) or go for this new-poor guy. The play is principally interested in how this youthful love triangle affects the three mothers involved (whether the kids like it or not)

12th night (Shakespeare)

 - viola (el) wrongly assumes a family member (hopper) is dead. She dresses up as a man named 'cesario'. A girl named Olivia falls for 'cesario' (violet dressed as a man). "Finally, when 'Cesario' and Sebastian (violet's twin brother: assumed to have drowned - Will) appear in the presence of Olivia there is more wonder and confusion at their physical similarity. Taking Sebastian for 'Cesario', Olivia asks him to marry her, and they are secretly married in a church. Cough if Olivia is 'straight' cause she fell for Viola (as a doppleganger dressed like her twin brother).Mike being into el who multiple characters in s1 said looked like a boy and specifically like Will is...suspish and a hint he's not straight lol. just like Olivia they're both into guys . plus, this play just has a butt load of love triangles (ugh i hated that aspect). There was also romantically coded letters (which was in the s4 films) . One character is also thrown into an insane asylum and framed as 'insane'.'Pretending that Malvolio is insane, they lock him up in a dark chamber. Feste visits him to mock his insanity'. We all know the psych hospital will be narratively important- talked about it more here.

The seagull (Anton Chekhov-russian)

similar to how I believed s4 will show m*#even already broken up since the months between s3-4 : act 3 (s3) ends with Nina begging for one last chance to be with Trigorin before he leaves/moves away. They kiss and make plans to meet again in Moscow.And in act 4 there's a timeskip where it shows they've been broken up for a long time between acts- and its established they never actually loved eachother. Do i even have to spell out why this parallels the m*#even ending in s3? There is also a play within the play (this is common in a lot of the st films- they have plays- or a story within a story- which illustrate certain themes or emotions of the characters within said film : blackswan, children of paradise, highschool musical, Rushmore, book of Henry, welcome to marwen, never ending story, romancing the stone, wet hot American summer, etc).The play is Konstantin's latest attempt at creating a dense symbolist work. There is also alot of love triangles in the seagull. TW!: for se#ual ab*se/su*cidal thoughts/ inc*st (here and in other play segments). The seagull motif reminds me a lot of Jonathan's rabbit story.Konstantin romantically into Nina shows up to give her a gull that he has shot. Nina is confused and horrified . Trigorin sees the gull that Konstantin has shot and muses to Nina on how he could use it as a subject for a short story: "The plot for the short story: a young girl lives all her life on the shore of a lake. She loves the lake, like a gull, and she's happy and free, like a gull. But a man arrives by chance, and when he sees her, he destroys her, out of sheer boredom. Like this gull."  This immediately reminded me of jon's rabbit story and some of the movies on the s4 list . Like in forrest gump- Jenny (who is poor) was se*ually ab*sed as a very young girl by her father. As a child she runs away into a field-away from her alcoholic father yelling at her -there she prays that she can "be a bird so I can fly far far away" .

Jenny as an adult struggles with this unresolved trauma- being with ab*sive partners, doing dr*gs, and having su*cidal thoughts . She as an adult when contemplating su*icide, jokes 'you think i can fly like a bird ?' while looking down at a bridge.God-i'm worried about jonathan (Jenny was also a musician sort of like jon). In another s4 movie example ' mystic river ' :(in the 80s) a preteen baseball playing boy is r*ped by men in the woods. He later says he wishes he could become an undead monster to not feel the pain of that experience - cause quote " if I'm not human anymore maybe the pain will stop" (Will) . slightly off topic but he also has another personality, imagines a alternate word that dissappears when he turns his head. And as a less direct animal parallel to the play - the boy from the film also imagined his perpetrators as monsters and wolves to cope.In 'getout' the photographer character sees a dead deer in the woods and it represents a parent/his own childhood tra*ma relating to his past. similarly in 'prince of tides' the 2 siblings as kids were ra*ed by men. The older brother remembered it and the younger sibling developed DID (so didn't remember but she would draw wolves- as the perpetrators/villains in her picture stories she created . In the film they also had an ab*sive dad and were very poor. She also tried k*ling herself multiple times-but started to get better after remembering the source of her pain and trauma.  There is also the theme of multiple attempted su*cides in the play- and the play ends with yet another attempt- and the audience is left unaware of the artist's fate at the end of the play.

The tempest (Shakespeare)

Prospereo - (the perceived antagonist) is a wizard with monstrous looks, storm powers , and ability to create monster-dogs

He wants revenge on a man who tried ra*ing his family member & revenge on his other family member who wronged him years ago. I mean... pretty much my did theory.But in the end.Prospero decides to show his enemies the mercy that they did not show him twelve years earlier. He tells Ariel to bring the men to him, he will restore their sanity and then renounce magic forever.Prospero breaks the spell that the men are under .

Diary of a scoundrel (Alexander Ostrovsky-Russian)

-  I suppose this could loosely relate to Jonathan? Glumov, is a young man from an impoverished family lacking status seeking entrance into society's pampered class. A 19th-century Russian scoundrel must scheme his way out of his meager life in a small apartment -whatever it takes.He has a quick mind and some talent for seeing through the hypocrisies of people around him ( Jonathan does make a lot of social critiques about society). That gives him some advantages. A tale of one man's mission to finagle his way into upper-class society and find a cushy job. Set in 1874, this social comedy follows Glumov, a Russian youth who begins his ambitious ascent to social esteem. He progresses by wit, guile and rhetoric. Pitting one stupid person against another, he soon gains his ends. To reach these goals, Glumov will lie, flatter, and cater to the vanities of the wealthy. Unable to contain his disgust with his victims, Glumov decides to relieve his unvoiced satirical comments by recording his schemes in a diary. But he is tripped up by his uncle's wife, to whom he has made passionate love on his way to success. At the end of the play, his diary is stolen and his duplicity exposed, but he can nevertheless suceeds. The author is much more critical about the high society itself than about the main character, so the play keeps attracting generations of directors by opening possibilities for political criticism while also avoiding naming names of the current rulers.The play's aim was to overthrow bourgeois tradition and establish a class-conscious art called eccentricism giving a deliberately comic portrayal of reality.

I suppose I notice some possible commonalities-  besides s3 critiquing the wealthy/capitalism in comedic ways . jonathan since s1 has worried about his family's finances / had some resentment toward the rich . In some of the s4 movies ‘orphan’ & ‘ girl interrupted’ someone reads their diary out loud to get at them (in girl interrupted the winona character’s diary even had critiques of her new friends).  Alot of movies also have someone (usually a teen/young adult) making a documentary about their life -which could narratively replace said diary? A few movies have a poor guy adjusting to snobby rich social circles (or being poor and then getting money)- titanic, kingsmen, karate kid, the craft , godfather,  wardogs,into the spiderverse,flashdance, and many others . And movies like wardogs has a poor-young-character do shady things to finacially support his family . There’s also that whole uncle’s wife thing- which makes me uncomfortable for obvious reasons (but I’m just thinking of Lonnie’s creepy gf who was into him). A few movies had the guy’s step mom innappropriately hit on him- orange county & you got mail. And him trying to avoid her advances. Or...not to mention ... it may be a problematic coincidence /trope. But in enter the void -the guy who needs to finacially support his sibling/ does dr*gs -hooks up with his dr*g dealing friend’s married mom (who would give him money).  Or in gilbert grape- the poor teen-who has to finacially support his siblings/single mom-has his endgame relationship be a girl his own age. But before that he h*oked up with a married woman -who would give him money. Don’s plum -young film guy-propositioned by older female film director (for dream job). Not even mentioning the other films that have the guy hooking up with toxic older women (like ‘the graduate’). Or analyze this-where the therapist accuses him of having an Oedipus complex (not touching that one... but the guy in ‘enter the void’ a 100% had one). It’s possible those movies were just- inspo for s3?  A coincidence? Or s3 was foreshadowing for this in s4- but unlike s3 it will accurately be played as wrong  and a sign of Jonathan recreating past tra*ma caused by Lonnie (cough like the photos) /being desperate for money. And not played ‘comedically’ like how it mostly was in s3. But shown as self destructive  (for Jon) and immoral on the Woman’s end. Like... Billy and Jon are character foils. Both are older siblings into rock music, with ab*sive dads who shoved them into walls. Both lose it (and beat steve to a pulp when Steve accidentally triggers their daddy issues). In s3 it’s established womanizer Billy has mommy issues, than he tries ho*king up with someone his mom’s age, and the characters ref ‘back to the future ‘ and Steve incorrectly says it’s about “alex p keaton trying to bang his mom.” This could illustrate his subconscious issues with parental figures/adults cause of Lonnie’s  possible past se*ual ab*se . One film the friend even says to the guy “you don’t have friends!” guy b: i have friends! him:  no you have acquaintances! ADMIT IT! YOU’RE AFRAID OF MEN!I mean-Jonathan liked Nancy- but he initially hooked up with her cause he wanted to prove he didn’t have ‘trust issues’ from his dad. Also it’s prob a bit of a reach (and maybe a coincidence)- but the fact Murray in the same breath compares Steve (Nancy’s then bf) and Lonnie  ... uh... if you think too long about it ... it’s very sinister .  Especially because in s3: muray tells Joyce  that despite her wanting to be with a nice guy, she’s curious about “the brute” Hopper despite him reminding her of a past “bad relationship”(aka Lonnie). Like- yeah connect some dots.  Quite a few films (other than forrest gump) also have the character who (as a kid) was  r*ped by their dad/parent-  begin to do dr*gs/be pr*miscuous as adults since they never learned to properly cope with their trauma (’girl with the dragon tattoo’,  ‘black swan’, and ‘magnolia’). Unfortunately the whole relative doing such things to kid-relatives is in at least 30+ movies. 

Personally, i would be MUCH happier if Jon had a age appropriate romance- and had not a single creepy adult near him. A few movies actually imply Lonnie gets yet another ‘new model’  replacing his gf in her 20s with a new gf- who is ‘barely l*gal” and just turned 18. so there’s that possibility as well- that she’s jonathan’s age.I just want Jonathan-happy &safe. GOD. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

I’ve spent the last two days writing a paper on gender and sexuality in Twelfth Night so please, tell me your thoughts on the use of gender as a plot device in Twelfth Night ❤️

Hell yeah, I love talking about gender! Obligatory disclaimer that this post is tied up with a lot of headcanons, but I’m trying to be mostly based in the text for this.

Viola fucking with gender is what kicks off the plot, *but also* the plot helps Viola figure out gender.

There’s so many ways to take violacesario’s gender and I want them all! Trans girl Viola, nonbinary or genderfluid Cesario, cis Viola who’s relieved to go back to being a woman full time, they’re all *really good*, and I’m extremely inconsistent about pronouns and whether I call her Viola or Cesario.

Viola has a lot of anxiety surrounding her disguise compared to other crossdressing heroines, and this could indicate that she’s a woman who’s uncomfortable pretending to be something she’s not, *or* Cesario’s discomfort could be more about lying in general and once everyone knows who they are they’ll be able to be more open about their gender.

She just puts a lot of thought into why things happen and what it all means, so it makes sense that she’d also be introspective about her gender

Gender as a social function — Viola is shipwrecked in a strange country, and even though she’s from a good family she’s still a single woman and can’t count on that to protect her.

Olivia’s father and brother have recently died, so she’s lost her emotional family connections, but she’s *also* lost the security of having men to take care of her. Now she *could* solve this problem by getting married, but she instead solves it by refusing to let men enter her space and I think that’s incredibly sexy of her.

The last time I watched Twelfth Night I noticed that Orsino is more earnest and passionate about music than he is about love, and convinces himself that they’re the same thing (but because this isn’t a tragedy, he doesn’t confuse either of those things with *power*, looking at you, Edmund). Similarly he seems to be interested in Olivia because she’s A Woman, not because she’s *that specific woman*.

There’s just a lot of idealized language that feels like he’s repeating what’s expected of him and he’s got a LOT of misconceptions and misogyny that Cesario helps him unpack. “If she loves her dead brother how much more will she love ME!?” “Their beauty and love fades quicker than ours so date a younger woman” “Men just love more, that’s just facts” orsino, *buddy*…

It feels important that Viola is specifically pretending to be a eunuch, not just a serving boy. It’s partly just to explain away why he’s so feminine, but it’s also a different *role* than “man”.

This ties into class things too — the kind of man Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are allowed to be vs. the kind of man Malvolio has to be, and what it means to cross those boundaries — but that’s a whole essay of its own, and one that someone besides me should write (but then send me a link because I’m very curious)

violacesario is straddling a lot of different worlds and identities and everyone can tell — sometimes with admiration, sometimes with derision, sometimes in genderfuckery solidarity.

Orsino keeps using “he” and “Cesario” and “boy” even after the reveal but seems pretty open to following their lead based on presentation and preferences, and I think that’s some sexy character growth.

Thoughts on Malvolio?

He should’ve wound up with Olivia!! He deserves it!! He’s the only one who really loves her, Orsino dropped her as soon as he found out Viola was a girl and Sebastian doesn’t even know her. I guess I could see her with Maria, too, except they both have really straight vibes to me. Point is everything Malvolio did was to make Olivia happy! He went to prison for her, and he doesn’t even get a pity kiss?? What are we supposed to take from that?? That nice guys don’t get the girl?? Fuck off William

Caite, I know you said in the tags on that Much Ado post that your opinion on which Shakespeare characters the SC characters would be isn’t “necessary information” but I disagree please tell me.

Emma, please hold my chamomile tea. *shakes out hands, cracks knuckles.

I am SO glad you asked. Mkay here goes...

Moira: Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra) LISTEN, we all know Moira played Lady M during Shakespeare at Sea week, been there, done that. Not only is this woman a beautiful, elegant ruler with a flair for the dramatic, she has A WHOLE ACT to herself after Antony dies which NEVER happens. It’s the spotlight she deserves to bathe in. Plus, death by snakes? What a great way to go.

Johny: Prospero (The Tempest) He had all his wealth taken from him by some one he trusted deeply and now has to make a life for himself on some weird magical island? Then has watch his child get married and gets hit with all the feels???

David: Hamlet I’m sorry but who else in Shakespeare’s canon is this dramatic and full of consternation. BUT ALSO 

David and Patrick are Antonio and Sebastian from literally every play because they will find their way to each other in any universe. 

Alexis: I’m torn here. Early Alexis would make an excellent Bianca (Taming of the Shrew) (pretty, gets what she wants), but I’ve really been seeing her as a Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) lately for some reason idk why it’s like i’ve been spending a lot of time with that play lately given that she’s well loved and respected, feels a lot but tries to hide it, and is incredibly bright

Stevie: Jacques (As You Like It) because her presence is subtle but you know she’s hanging on to every word and has something smart (if a little gloomy) to say. (okay but how hot would she be as a Cesario or Ganymede tho)

Patrick: I would accept Orlando (As You Like It), or even King Henry V (Henry V). OH WAIT. Orlando is Patrick around Pregnancy Test/Open Mic (he tacks love letters addressed to a girl he’s just met onto fucking TREES). But have you heard King Henry proclaim his love to Princess Katherine??? That sits right next to Patrick’s proposal and wedding vows.

Ted: Lysander (Midsummer Night’s Dream) madly in love and loyal to a fault.

Roland: Falstaff (Henry IV Parts 1&2, Merry Wives of Windsor) This, to me is obvious and non negotiable. (But I would also accept Sir Toby Belch or Bottom)

Jocelyn: Peter Quince (Midsummer Night’s Dream) she’d just trying to keep everything together but sometimes it feels like no one is listening!

Ronnie: Maria (Twelfth Night) because she does what she wants and will not be taking any bullshit today.

Ray: for how happy Ray is all the time, he’d be a great Malvolio (Twelfth Night) BUT would also make an excellent Touchstone (As You Like It) what with how many words he can get out in one breath

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your attention. I’m so sorry for disrupting everyone’s dash with these ramblings. But I wanted to post this publicly to open it up to other people’s thoughts! I’ve been spending a lot of time with Much Ado lately, so it’s nice to actually write these this all down.

TL;DR My career trajectory is in Shakespeare Studies so I have a lot of thoughts and feelings. 

YA Shakespeare Retellings to TBR 

[via Book Riot]

William Shakespeare’s work has permeated nearly every corner of literature, from retellings and adaptations to books that revolve around the study or performance of Shakespeare’s works. The YA field is no exception, and today we’ve rounded up some of the best YA Shakespeare retellings—books that take Shakespeare’s characters or plots and give them a new twist. 

The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You by Lily Anderson (a laugh-out-loud funny retelling of Much Ado About Nothing)

If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson (a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet, about a black boy and a white Jewish girl who fall for each other)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (a very loose retelling of King Lear, involving a wealthy family, secrets, and lies)

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnstone (a young woman is assaulted and has to redefine herself as someone other than a victim in this loose retelling of The Winter’s Tale)

As I Descended by Robin Talley (in this retelling of Macbeth, Maria and Lily are their boarding school’s power couple, and they’ll do whatever it takes to lock in their status)

Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper (another interracial take on Romeo and Juliet, in which a local gang tries to keep the lovers apart)

Fool’s Girl by Celia Rees (in this clever and meta spin on Twelfth Night, Violetta and Feste head to London to rescue relics stolen by Malvolio, and along the way meet William Shakespeare himself)

A Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters (in this Hamlet retelling, when Hannalee hears a rumor that her new stepfather is to blame for her father’s death, she goes looking for her father’s ghost to find the truth)

This Must Be Love by Tui T. Sutherland (a fun retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in which BFFs Hermia and Helena have all sorts of hilarious and Shakespeare-worthy mishaps connecting with their crushes)

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (in 1926 Shanghai, Juliette assumes her place as the heir to a powerful gang. But their rivals are fighting for their territory at every step, run by Juliette’s first love, Roma. Look for this retelling of Romeo and Juliet coming out in the fall)

Soooo I have a Twelfth Night pitch for y’all

and it all starts with Cesario having amnesia.

HEAR ME OUT

So our unconscious thembo washes up on Illyria after a shipwreck and is taken in by local drag queen Feste. After getting nice and acclimated to the whole washing-up-on-a-random-ass-island-with-amnesia thing, they decide to get a job, and by sheer dumb luck, they get hired as a musician by the duke for his son’s upcoming 21st birthday. This son? None other than the playboy himbo of Illyria himself, Orsino.

Said playboy himbo is pining after ex-girlfriend Olivia, a snarky goth girl who just moved back to Illyria with an art degree, a dead father, and a seven year vow of celibacy. He begs Cesario to play Cupid for him because despite Olivia giving him the cold shoulder, not responding to his love letters, and calling him a slut any chance she gets, he toooootally thinks he still has a chance.

The usual Twelfth Night hijinks ensue, Cesario’s caught in a love triangle where Orsino wants Olivia and Olivia wants Cesario and Cesario might want them both but they don’t wanna lose their job and also who the fuck am I

Because you see, Olivia has this frat boy uncle named Toby (he’s like five years older than her, that’s always awkward to explain) and he knows a little something about Olivia’s vow that she’s trying to keep hush-hush:

If she breaks her vow and hooks up with any man before the seven years are up, her inheritance goes straight to Toby.

Cue Toby trying to set up Olivia with rich boy himbo Andrew Aguecheek, tricking the local pastor’s son and town buzzkill Malvolio into thinking Olivia wants him, and trying to figure out who this walking loophole who works for the duke is before they ruin his get-rich-quick scheme.

...oh, and at the other end of Illyria, there’s this weird guy named Sebastian Viola who hangs out with a pirate and won’t stop asking people if they’ve seen his twin.

...

Thank you and good night.

Okay RIP to me for never posting it but I found a post in my drafts that I LOVE so if anyone is still alive in the rise fandom this ones for you #renewrise :(

So I know the rise fandom is basically dead sense the show was literally killed off right but most schools have a play in the fall and a musical in the spring. Well they did their musical and now I present!!! Twelfth Night!

Gwen is Olivia. She’s a little upset she didn’t get Viola but she talks herself into saying Lilette looks more man-ish anyway

Plus now she can be pinning on her on stage with it still being a part of the script

Which means obviously... Lilette is Viola/Cesario

She’s more confident this year having had a lead before

You would think Robbie would come back and play Oresino right?

Wrong.

It’s Simon

He deserves that lead

Because he knows a thing or to about not understanding love

Plus Robbie wasn’t allowed to try out this year but Simon is just as good as him

Lou’s just a shipper teacher who will screw with everything to get his ship together

Simon kills it though

Jeremy? Wanted to be in tech but got roped into being Antonio

There’s not a lot of guys trying out and they had a lot of parts to fill

Simon gets jealous of the guy playing Sebastian

Which is just some random football player who decided he was going to try out cause why not

And Simons conflicted because he has a good role but he also suddenly in uncomfortable with every scene they have together

Jeremy’s just trying to get over Simon

But hey this football player is pretty cute

But still every scene he still pretends it’s Simon

Michael got Sir Toby

He’s like this is okay I guess. Hes just excited to be a part of the cast again

He tried out for orseno but definitely thought Simon deserved it

There’s no hard feelings

But he is the understudy

Jolene?

Still upset she wasn’t Olivia

Which is the role she so desperately wanted

But she did get the understudy for her and for Viola

So that’s okay

But her role is Maria which is alright

Sasha actually becomes Feste the fool

Lou wanted to do a little gender swap for the roles

Sorta like how they actually did in Shakespeares time like how hey did with all the boys playing girls

Sasha pulls off the fool pretty well

Lexis the second understudy behind Jolene.

Francis gets Malvolio

And he’s so excited!! A lead!!!

Clark gets Sir Andrew and he’s like alright that’s pretty good

I never finished it but that’s okay. 

unfortunately if i was any shakespeare character i would probably be malvolio because i’m always going into the kitchen to say “hiiiiiiiiieeee guys it’s past midnight could you please keep it down?” and convincing myself girls are in love with me