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Tweak says, "I see you there, get to work"

erniedtmac (erniedtmac) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-10-17 22:44:00

Entry tags:

character: ernie macmillan, character: lucy spinks

Who: Ernie and Lucy
What: Educating Ernie on very important musicals
Where: Lucy's place
When: Thursday, October 16 (backdated), late evening/night
Status: Closed / Ongoing

Ernie had been wide-eyed and rapt with attention from the opening strains of the film, and as the credits rolled, his face fell from a mix of excitement at the experience and disappointment that it was over.

"How could I have not seen this before?! It's a crime, I tell you. Though if jail were like in the movie, I don't think I'd mind as much." He playfully tossed a piece of popcorn at Lucy from the partially devoured bowlful in his lap.

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addingvalue
2014-10-19 08:57 am UTC (link)

Lucy had been able to commandeer the living room for the whole of Thursday evening - her housemates only dropping in occasionally to check out the boy she'd brought home. It was rare enough for her to bring someone home, even though she'd assured them Ernie was just a friend. She'd been watching Ernie almost as much as she'd been watching the movie, enjoying his reactions and tamping down her urge to sing along to the familiar tunes.

"Well, that's what you've got me for," she said, trying and failing to catch the piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Keep you up to date with all the culture you might otherwise miss." She pulled a spare cushion into her arms, half-turning. "It was fun watching you watch it."

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erniedtmac
2014-10-19 05:18 pm UTC (link)

Ernie hadn't minded the visiting housemates and had done his best to be a perfect guest, polite and offering to help. It was nice to spend time with Lucy again. He laughed as she missed the popcorn, then tossed one up in the air for himself.

"That's why I love having friends who are Muggleborn, else I'd miss so much," he said as he chewed on the popcorn. "I really love that sort of thing, the musicals. I just didn't know they made them a little darker, you know? But I'm going to be hearing those songs in my head for a week at least. So what's next on the Lets Educate Ernie agenda?"

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addingvalue
2014-10-20 01:48 pm UTC (link)

Lucy smirked. "Yeah, when you said you'd seen The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz, I knew I needed to take matters into my own hands." Not that she didn't have a healthy appreciation for the musicals she'd watching growing up, she did, but Chicago was just a different thing entirely. "For a start, there's a sad lack of gorgeous nearly-shirtless men in those." She reached for the box of dark chocolates she'd bought on a whim and popped one into her mouth.

She considered his question as she chewed. "Hmm. I don't know. I'm not a musicals expert, really. I only know Chicago because it was a big hit in the cinema. I know there are the big... traditional musicals like Les Mis and Phantom -" She paused, realising Ernie probably had no idea what she was going on about. "They're dark too, but sort of... They're not sexy and modern dark, they're more... tragic?" She hadn't actually seen The Phantom of the Opera but from what she knew of it she didn't think her description was too off the mark. "I don't know if there's anything else that's quite like this. West Side Story?" Another musical she hadn't seen, but she was fairly sure someone died at the end.

Deciding to move sideways from that topic, she sipped her drink. "You can go see some musicals live in London, too, if you'd be interested. It's more expensive, but you can get quite cheap tickets on the day if you're not too pick about where you sit." It wasn't something she did often, despite living in London for a while now. Still, she should do it more and it would be fun to take Ernie. She was trying to think of what was on right now when a thought occurred to her. "Oh my god, you haven't seen Grease, have you? You must!"

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erniedtmac
2014-10-21 02:29 am UTC (link)

"Oh yeah, anything is better with nearly-shirtless men," Ernie replied dreamily.

Ernie listened to her talk of musicals with the ear of a man who didn't quite understand what he was hearing but still loved every second of it. "Tragic can be good too. I think by dark I mean more adult, not as kid-friendly, you know?"

He lit up at the mention that there were musicals live. "Grease? There's a musical about kitchens then?" He paused and tilted his head, then shrugged. "I'd see it. We can go, right? I can pay if I get some of my galleons exchanged into pounds."

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addingvalue
2014-10-22 04:33 pm UTC (link)

"Agreed." Lucy offered the chocolates to Ernie, reaching for the remote to stop the movie from playing over again. There were a few extra features - she was kind of interested to see what Ernie made of the deleted song, so navigated to it but didn't hit play. She could wait for a pause in the conversation.

She nodded. "I think Les Mis and Phantom would probably go over the heads of most kids?" They certainly would have gone over her head, but then she hadn't been raised in the same kind of environment as Ernie. "But they're not 'adult' in the same way Chicago is."

Laughing, she shook her head. "No, it's not about kitchens. It's about American teenagers. I don't know why it's called Grease, really." All she knew was that 'Grease is the word...' - a reference Ernie definitely wouldn't get yet. "I don't think it's on live at the moment, and anyway the film is kind of... iconic. You need to see that first. But we can go see something else live!"

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erniedtmac
2014-10-24 12:40 am UTC (link)

"Are there movie versions of them?" he asked about Les Mis and Phantom. "If so, we can watch them for our next movie night. I can even bring a nice bottle of vodka or rum and make us a few drinks, have a good night of it."

He was a little disappointed that Grease wasn't showing live, but he brightened at the mention of a film. "All right, we'll watch the film for Grease, and definitely see something else live. It'll be fascinating to see the difference between Muggle and wizard theatre. Mum and I've been a few times, it's sort of our thing, bonding time and all that. Have you ever been?"

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addingvalue
2014-10-24 04:07 pm UTC (link)

Lucy tilted her head to one side. "I don't know," she admitted after a moment. She could find out easily, but she didn't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all musicals ever. "I think Les Mis does. Even if they haven't, I'm sure I can rustle up some other musicals for you. There's loads." She grinned and added, "And cocktails are always appreciated."

Somehow, it had never occurred to her that wizards even had theatre - though there was no reason why they shouldn't, since it needn't rely on electricity. "I've never been," she said, a note of excitement in her tone. "Do they use magic for special effects and lighting?" Perhaps it was because she'd been away so long, but the magical world had almost regained some of its lustre from when she'd first found out about it. Magical theatre could be amazing... "What kinds of plays do they have?"

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erniedtmac
2014-10-25 12:51 am UTC (link)

Ernie nodded, pleased to share some of his fonder memories. "Oh yeah, and I imagine half the props are transfigured too. That way they can get the details exactly like the director envisions."

He popped another piece of popcorn into his mouth and chewed as he tried to remember some of the plays he'd been to. "Well, when I was young, Mum used to take me to see The Fountain of Fair Fortune every year - it's based on the story in Beedle the Bard - but would take me to see The Warlock's Hairy Heart until I was in Hogwarts at least. She thought it was a little too scary for a wee lad. I remember when a troupe in Hogsmeade did a production of McTavish and the Selkie with a lead who was an animagus and actually turned into a seal on the stage - that was just brilliant! I think my favourite, though, is Holy Helga, a sort of comedy of errors about a group of Hufflepuffs getting together for a funeral and a wedding in the same day. If they ever do that one again, we should get everyone together to go see it."

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addingvalue
2014-10-28 01:52 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, that's cool," Lucy said. "Muggle theatres tend to go for more... minimal sets, I guess? Stuff that could kind of represent anything, depending on how you look at it? At least, the plays I've seen have." Which, honestly, wasn't a great number. She didn't really have anyone to go with since her friends weren't really interested. "But with magic I suppose you could be really realistic, because it wouldn't be more expensive, or create all this stuff you wouldn't need a few months later. "

She listened as Ernie talked about the plays he had seen, eyes widening slightly when he talked about the animagus. That was something muggles could only replicate with special effects - a thought which made her want to take Ernie to see the latest sic-fi adventure so he could compare. "Seems like we have enough outings to tide us over for several months. Are there wizarding pantomimes? Otherwise, we should go see a muggle one for Christmas."

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	erniedtmac 2014-10-31 12:39 am UTC (link)
	"One can never have enough outings. We've a few years to make up for, after all," he teased, tossing another piece of popcorn her way. He tried to think on the word she used, but wasn't certain what it meant. "I've never heard of a panto-mime. Is it a sort of silent theatre production? Sort of like the Muggle movies where they don't speak?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2014-10-31 05:34 pm UTC (link)

This time, Lucy raised her hand in time to swat the popcorn away, laughing at Ernie's expression. "No," she said, laughing. "It's not silent at all! It's..." She frowned, because pantomime was hard to describe. "It's sort of for kids?" she began, uncertain even as she said it because lots of grown-up families made it a part of their Christmas tradition. "It's usually a fairy tale, anyway, but with lots of comedy thrown in. People falling over or having water fights. And singing."

As she talked, she made animated hand gestures which did little to actually explain what she was talking about but served to communicate a certain enthusiasm. "And the audience are encouraged to cheer for the good characters and boo at the bad ones, and there are certain situations where you have to shout to the characters on stage, who'll answer back. And there's usually a man dressed as an old woman, and the main 'hero' is played by a young woman. There are a lot of very specific traditions, it's been around for ages and ages."

She looked up to find Ernie watching her and smiled sheepishly. "That was a lot of information all at once. Sorry. I think maybe it's the kind of thing you have to see to understand."

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	erniedtmac 2014-11-01 03:11 am UTC (link)
	Ernie grinned as she explained, enjoying seeing her so animated. "I agree. So how about you drag me to one this Christmas, maybe a few of us go together? My treat, can be a Christmas present for everyone." He jokingly held out his hand to 'shake on it'. "Is it a deal?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

addingvalue
2014-11-05 06:20 pm UTC (link)

"Sure," Lucy said, taking Ernie's hand and grinning at him. "But I'm not letting you pay for everyone. It shouldn't be that expensive - not compared to the West End. We could even go in Sheffield, everything's cheaper there." Since Ernie and the others could apparate - and could take Lucy with them that way, as Susan had done - it was actually possible without the train journey that would have otherwise put Lucy off from the suggestion. "I'll look into what there is and let you know."

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	(OOC - will be deleted) erniedtmac 2014-11-08 04:57 am UTC (link)
	A good place to end it? Sorry for the delay, am really behind on tags! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: (OOC - will be deleted) goodlight 2014-11-10 05:20 pm UTC (link)
	That's more or less what I was thinking, yup! Off to reply as Bryony now... (Reply to this) (Parent)