Sunday Snippet, et. al.

[clevermanka]

I have got to touch up my roots today. Absolute imperative, no more putting it off. I hate the way it looks right now, and since my hair is currently my only body part over which I have any control... Yeah it's A Thing. I just hope my arms don't poop out halfway through. I meant to get started at 6am but it's 7:30 and I'm still sitting here with my tea and the hair mask getting stiff and cold. eta: rinsing out the henna at 11:30 just in time for a phone call with write_out  and then indigo this afternoon. 👍

Yesterday was the Shakespeare group I'm in with yaaurens and jabber_moose  and I got to read Lady Macbeth! I skimmed the play earlier in the week to go through and highlight my lines, and I'd forgotten how few lines Lady M has. For a character with such a large cultural impact, she doesn't have a lot of screen time. I'm always amazed at the language of this play, too. It's awkward and uncomfortable--bizarre in an unsettling way. The guy reading Macbeth was excellent and I hope I did his wife justice. I certainly had the emotional disregulation down, ha ha! I also tried to make it clear that these two FUCK, which I think a lot of productions fail to highlight. I came out of it with a lot more feelings than I thought I had about her. She's power-hungry and horny and obsessively attracted/devoted to her husband in a massively co-dependent way and in the end it's her soft nature (which she tries to deny at the beginning) that ruins her.

I'm cautiously curious about the Denzel Washington/Frances McDormand production although I found the current 50-second preview deeply boring.

Still making small but steady progress on Good Intentions! I gave myself one day off after cheeringnaye over her finish line, but other than that I've written at least 100 words a day every day this week.

“I heard the group was back so I came to see how your day was,” Ye Zun said, letting go and backing up as Zhao Yunlan and Chu Shuzhi wandered over. He glanced over his shoulder and angled his body to include them in the question. “How was it? Did you have a good time?” He glanced at Shen Wei and for a moment his easy smile went sharp with narrowed eyes. “How was the track?” His face smoothed out again as he turned back to the other two boys. “Did he make a good showing?”

Shen Wei’s lips went numb and his heart beat hard. Shen Wei hadn’t mentioned the dirt bike track to Ye Zun, much less the false permission slip. He glanced between Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan, chips and sandwiches churning in his stomach. Chu Shuzhi’s face retained its usual sullen indifference while Zhao Yunlan’s shifted from uncertain discomfort to a facade of easy humor.

“Uh,” he started.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad,” Ye Zun interrupted, bumping his shoulder against Shen Wei’s.

Ugh, Ye Zun you're such an asshole.

Comments

[wrote_and_writ]

I decided to teach Hamlet this year instead of Macbeth. We were bored by it last year. Hamlet is a hot mess, but there’s a lot to work with.

[clevermanka]

Wise choice, imo. I feel like there's not a lot of themes in Macbeth for teens to connect with besides the general wacky goriness of it all. And maybe the notion that power corrupts, but yeah. I think it'd be pretty boring to study academically. It's a glorious spectacle and is great for general "can you believe this shit" conversation but as far as deep dives, there's not a lot there that interests me personally.

[wrote_and_writ]

It’s accessible, which can be great for high school students, depending on the level of kids in your class, but there’s so much that happens on stage, like dramatic fighting, that doesn’t work in a reading. Whereas Hamlet has so many great monologues and soliloquies that you have multiple points of connection for a reader.

[nnozomi]

The Scottish play is one of the stories my mom used to tell my cousins and me when we were quite small (clearly we were a fearless bunch), and as a result there are still lines I can repeat now. I like your Lady M analysis!

other than that I've written at least 100 words a day every day this week.
Yay! And oh dear, Ye Zun.

[clevermanka]

Ah! What a great childhood story! They way (some) kids love being scared, it's great. 🧡

And yeah, Ye Zun. *sigh* This fic is, er... not a redemption arc for him.

[umadoshi]

She's power-hungry and horny and obsessively attracted/devoted to her husband in a massively co-dependent way and in the end it's her soft nature (which she tries to deny at the beginning) that ruins her.

That is a fabulous read on her. *^^*

I've written at least 100 words a day every day this week.

So much yay!

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad,” Ye Zun interrupted, bumping his shoulder against Shen Wei’s.

*side-eyes Ye Zun* Asshole indeed.

[clevermanka]

I came out of that reading with a lot more feelings than I thought I'd have about her! I miss talking about Shakespeare with people SO MUCH. Surprisingly enough, engineering students don't just randomly drop by my desk to discuss The Bard. 😂

Trying really hard to make Ye Zun somewhat sympathetic in this but it's a rough road.

[umadoshi]

Surprisingly enough, engineering students don't just randomly drop by my desk to discuss The Bard.

Sad but unsurprising. :/

[minoanmiss]

I hope the touching up went well! And I LOVE your read on Lady M. She was my favorite and I was so mad when she died.

[clevermanka]

Well, it is a tragedy! 😆 Suicide is a perfect arc for her, imo.

[minoanmiss]

Oh, true, but I was 13. :D

[yaaurens]

You were fabulous as Lady M.

Brava on the writing!

[clevermanka]

Aw, thank you, friend! It was an honor to serve.

And I am bound and determined to at least get this fic to beta before the end of the year, so... *cracks knuckles*

[msmitti]

I don't think I've ever read Macbeth. My bomb-ass mother started a drama club for me in grade school (I was too young for whatever drama club I wanted to join) and we did Macbeth one year. I was the third witch. I'm fairly certain, given the crazy amount of work Mom did to adapt the play to a grade school level and length and then direct it, she expected me to take a bigger part.

Hope the hair turned out. I desperately need a haircut but maybe I'll just trim my ends after a shower and call it good.

[clevermanka]

I wouldn't recommend reading it just to read it, tbh. The language is so odd and weirdly stilted. It makes for a great unsettling effect when it's performed, but reading not so much. Also I would totally watch a Kidz Bop version of Macbeth.

My hair looks great today, thanks!

[mekare]

Go you for writing regularly!

[clevermanka]

I allow myself one day off a week, but other than that yes! Writing every day!