To Be or Not to Be... so corny, Basic Acting and Winter Play (Hsin)

[Jaali Desseren]

~Winter Era XI, third cycle~ One week irl to complete, but will take longer, knowing us!

Having been almost completely destroyed during the battle against the merfolk, the Old School House had undergone a reconstruction, received a new name, and been relocated to the southern borders of the town proper, accompanied by the two other training amenities present on the Fire Isle. It was a rather imposing red brick building, it’s austere façade doing nothing to give it any of the charm and character one would associate with other buildings in Demios.

On one side of the main doors, attached to the wall is a rather large bell. The solid wooden door stands slightly ajar as if expecting you to enter. Stepping inside one immediately can see that this is a schoolhouse. To the left there is a small room with the word ‘Office’ painted on the door beyond that is a large classroom. To the right of the door there are two more classrooms; the first room stands empty; the blackboard at the front of the room is devoid of any chalk marks.

”Serale, may I help you? Have you come to enroll in classes? We have many to offer.” a soft voice asks from the open office doorway.

Yes indeed they had many classes, but why was Basic Acting not on that list? A politician must learn how to act, Jaali knew and this was why she desired or rather had to take said class. In no way wished the young woman to become an actress or even participate in a traveling troupe-- she only wanted to learn a skill that would help her in many ways. Especially in Medonia where nothing was what it was and everything was fake. Sad how this was existence and sad how Jaa, who another thought was the epitome of "pureness", had to learn to shield herself with a mask that was acting.

"Do you have Basic Acting?" Jaa asked. The answer was a sad no. The half elf allowed her violet eyes to browse and scan the list of available skills taught in the Old School House. Arts and craft and shipwrighting? What in Ioannes' toes was shipwrighting? Law and politics-- would make more sense for the foolish one to take more lessons in law-- or complete the one uncompleted in Medonia... But no! Jaa would have what she wanted and would not remove herself from her position until she was victorious!

.... Candlemarks later ...

"Miss, you know, you can stay here all brightening and even darkening, but we can not miraculously find you an instructor for Acting lessons..." Dear lady Diana, save me...

Jaali wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms.

"This is a school and Basic Acting should be offered... Yer lucky my feet are hurting now, but I'll be back the next brightening and do the same until ye find me an instructor!"

It was then that the half-elf stormed out of the Old School and into the Demiosian streets. Why was she still in the city anyway? Perhaps her next destination would give one a clue-- the Leap of Faith. To the very Inn of which Jaa wished to purchase one brightening very, very soon.


... The next brightening...

As promised, the half-elf who did not bother to change her garments and managed not to reek, at least not powerfully, returned and waited once again...

[Hsin]

All work and no play makes Hsin a dull boy.

Or so the conventional wisdom went, at any rate. For one and a half cycles, virtually every waking hour of his day had been spent in some way, shape, or form on training. His naginata had become his best friend, a virtual necessity given the amount of time they spent together. But, while he had the will and ability to continue, Hsin Nasial-Alque found himself inexplicably bored on the fine afternoon of the thirty first of Kalendryas. The Kemite had long ago learned to work with his body’s natural instincts, rather than fight to impose his own will. Sometimes fresh ideas and flashes of inspiration came out of peace and quite contemplation. Rather than draw attention to himself with the black cloak of the Fire Keepers, Hsin pulled on his long black overcoat and set off toward the Ivory Wings Universitas. In addition to calming his troubled mind, training had greatly improved his physique. Twelve or more hours of hard physical exercise a day had done much to build up the young man’s muscles and stamina. Furthermore, the demands of training had forced the normally picky Kemite to eat. All things considered, the thin and perennially exhausted Hsin the town of Tirisfal loved had virtually disappeared. Rather than go through the trouble of finding a barber he trusted, the young mage had decided to let his hair grow. It now hung below his shoulder blades, more often than not tussled and tangled. Sometimes he found himself possessed by a strange urge to comb and work his hair into a single neat braid. Strange, but not entirely unexplainable.

The average pedestrian on the streets of Demios probably would not give Hsin so much as a second glance. After all, with his neat clothing and well polished black boots, he looked more like a rich merchant than a thoroughly insane, slightly crazy ex-banker turned soldier and diplomat. Turning up the collar of his coat, the young man wandered toward the great center of culture and learning on the island. He had no particular purpose in mind, but certainly had no desire to engage in anything remotely involving martial warfare. For all Hsin cared, the people who lived and breathed warfare could do just that—they’d all starve in a few weeks at any rate. No, for the moment Hsin did not know what he wanted, and furthermore was completely happy with the fact. He had no cares in the world, no pressing demands he needed to fulfill. Thus, according to some minor law generally taught in Advanced Quantum Mechanics IV, something had to happen. The young man wound his way through the narrow cobble street of Demios, choosing turns at random until the newly rebuilt Old School House. The whole concept stunk of nonsense and the local tourism board. Why call something “Old” when the paint had just finished drying?

At any rate, Hsin decided to wander in and skim the listing of classes for the sixth (or perhaps seventh?) time in five months. Not that the young man had ever had the motivation to take any of the classes. He certainly had time, but never found the will. His white gloved hands pushed the door open just far enough to slip his thin body through. His black nekodas had stayed in the chest under his bed, otherwise he would have been ridiculously over armed for the situation. But, with fifty sharp objects hidden on various parts of his body, he was only slightly over armed. Completely oblivious to the somewhat irate and certainly cross half-elf sharing the room, Hsin ambled over to the class list and scanned the page. Perhaps half a minute later, he abruptly straightened and turned around. An awkward moment of silence came, took one glance at the unusual pair, and fled in terror. ”Erm, fancy meeting you here Jaali,” stammered Hsin as he felt the sweat drops form on his brow. ”So…what brought you here?”

Hsin had such a way with ladies.

[Jaali Desseren]

Calling something Old was psychological-- after all, things that were old were familiar and people could easily put their trust in establishments built in the old brightenings. Novel items were different and people often hesitated before giving anything new a try-- a new friend, a new love, a new suspiciously pungent piece of cheese. Anyway, one would say old things weren't that great either-- plenty of prejudices and stereotypes against old people, but that shall not be discussed here. Totally irrelevant rambling.

A pair of violet eyes blinked a total of four times. The half elf scrutinized the man before her for a moment-- he was exactly her size in height and there was something oddly familiar about him. A moment of thought revealed the truth to Jaa, a creature selectively senile at such a tender age, that since he knew her name, she had to know him too. These were not the brightenings where the Prefect of Medonia was a celebrity of the Empire, at least not yet, and so, it took another moment of thought for Jaa to finally remember Hsin.

Hsin the kemite human with the blasted alicat companion who had threatened to gauge out Goosey Mo's eyes. He was a unique individual and the only reason why Jaa had forgotten about him was because he had suddenly disappeared from her farmlands the brightening they had met. That or Jaa's recent little adventure in the Leap had blitzed out her brains. Ah yes, what brains, one would argue. The moral of the story was, booze out only if ye wish to end up like Jaali-- minutely odiferous, shockingly moronic, and sadly senile.

"Ah serale, Hsin!" As usual, unlike females who could read thoughts through facial expressions and body language, Jaa did not notice poor Hsin's awkwardness.

"I came to Demios, funny story, but no time to explain, mayhaps later, to learn Basic Acting before I return to Medonia. The city-- ack, so many kattas these brightenings (there were only three significant ones and the population was 500,000 in the city, excuse Jaa's exaggeration, she didn't really like kattas after a recent incident and in addition, she was allergic to all felines, with Zira as a exception, but whatever)... and ye know, people all hide behind masks. To deal with the rest of society as a politician, yes, Basic Acting would help."

Jaa shrugged and then smiled.

"Why are ye here? Do ye wish to learn some skills too? Great idea actually. If ye wish to take Basic Acting too, I'm sure they'd have to find us an instructor then! Come on, people! I don't have all brightening but I will stay here until my demands are met, blasted arse of Ioannes!"

Obviously peeved, the half-elf crossed her arms and tapped a violet-booted foot.

In moments, the half-elf caused even more ruckus. A tall young woman appeared with emerald eyes bespeckled, fire-red hair in a simple pony-tail, and lovely body garbed in a warm cotton dress of forest-green.

"Serale Miss. My name is Miausyn Tieranin. I may be able to help you with your studies, though I have just mastered the very skill myself. If you don't mind, for 100 crowns, I can teach you Basic acting skills in ten brightenings..." Mia smiled coyly at both the young woman and the man-- she did not seem irritated or annoyed-- only kindness existed on her sweet visage. Perfect lineaments could make any jealous, white pearly teeth. She was absolutely...

"Lovely..."

She mesmerized even Jaa!

"Um... sure! Hsin! Would ye like to take Basic acting too?" Jaa asked, tugging the sleeve of his coat gently.

[Hsin]

To be perfectly honest, Hsin did not have the slightest clue how to handle the energetic yet diminutive purple eyed half elf. There was no point in trying to feign indifference or disinterest. She had bumped into him in during the heady first days he had spent in the city of Tirisfal, before the heavy weight of the city had consumed the lion’s share of his sanity. Perhaps she could still remember the eager young man whom entertained wild dreams of economic success during the first cycles of his new job. But cycles had turned into months, and his dreams had suffocated under a blanket of dark depression. The dreams had fled a long time ago, leaving the Kemite with only bitter memories of their existence. On the other hand, he felt somewhat guilty for not sharing the same infectious mirth Jaali seemed to flaunt without the slightest hint of effort. For the first time in a very long time, Hsin found himself in a situation where his sanity (or, at the very least, future) did not depend on the scraps of information gleaned from a conversation. Nor did he find himself faced with the shade of a soul trapped between two worlds. For once, he was just a normal seventeen year old Kemite faced with an uncomfortable social situation. And, for probably the millionth time in the last five months, he had no idea what in Telath he was going to do. Swallowing quickly, he tried to absorb all the information Jaali had thrown his way. She did have a bit of a potty mouth though, something the Kemite had not noticed during their first meeting in Tirisfal. Speaking of first meetings, Hsin desperately dug through his memories for recollections of their encounter.

”Well,” he stammered while trying to preserve a shred of his dignity, ”its good to see you again Jaali. What has it been—three months? Four months since we met? Good to see you’re still doing…well...after all this time.” As hard as he tried to sound sincere, five months of deep cynicism had taken a toll on his ability to be earnest. ”I did come to take a look at the list of classes the school has posted, though I haven’t decided on which one to take.” Indeed, this seemed largely pointless considering the half-elf had pretty much decided for him. It would be nice if she had consulted him in the first place, but the Kemite didn’t seem too put off. Acting seemed like a good skill, all things considered, and especially useful given the rather strange jobs he seemed to be taking. ”Though, now that I think of it, I think I will give acting a try. But I don’t see it on the posted list of classes…”

His cheeks reddened as he stood witness to another one of Jaali’s outbreaks. Whatever he thought of her methods, the girl certainly did have a way of getting her way. Bowing politely to the nearly ethereal beauty, Hsin produced a hundred crown note from a pocket and placed it in her hand. ”Serale, Lady Tieranin. My name is Hsin Nasial-Alque, and, if it is not too much trouble, I do wish to take basic acting.”

Short, polite, and to the point. Just how Hsin liked it.

[Jaali Desseren]

He was friendlier back in Tirisfal, Jaa would remember sometime later, but for now, Miausyn's beauty held her captive and all thoughts were null at the moment. She couldn't read minds, and if only others would stop thinking of their sad pasts and dark histories and reveal them to her, then she could react. Jaa came from a family of peasants in a small town or village by the Sea of Diana, and though she could hardly say that only happiness existed in her past, she had no deep trauma to move and develop her into someone with more depth. Perhaps that was the saddest truth of all? And perhaps it was reasonable then that Jaa was hardly a compassionate friend or a person who understood others with ease-- her bubbling energy existed in the form that she possessed for that reason then.

As for her potty mouth-- ah well, the brightenings were brighter in Tirisfal for Jaali, back when she still had acres of free and lovely farmlands and back when political matters did not threaten to destroy her brain in a head capable of spontaneous combustion. Adding to the fact that she began to drink again and even smoke-- jolly jolly joy joy, cussin' was just so darn fun! Besides, at this time, Jaa already knew that she would never become a lady, or would even wish to, having met haught and disgusting nobles in Medonia and across the Empire... Commoners had far more excitement and more fun!

"Many months, Hsin. I'm surprised ye even remember me!" Jaa turned her slightly disturbing gaze that rested on Miausyn's visage to meet the Kemite's eyes. Very convenient when the man was exactly her height! If he were a half-elf and female, he could very well be her twin! In height!

"Ah yes then Lady Tieranin, we will both be yer willing pupils! Please lead us to the lecture room, I'm eager to start. It's like I've been standing here idly for a whole cycle now!"

Miausyn smiled and shook her head. "Alright then, come along, children."

Miausyn led the two down a winding hall to a small room with large windows that allowed abundant light to filter through. Brighteness was the key to success-- in learning, in shattering gloomy moods, in businesses.

"Have a seat and we shall begin immediately. I am trained in the field of Stage Drama. You shall learn to become a given character at will, to manipulate the expressions on your face to convince the audience, or in your cases, the people you wish to convince, to deceive, the likes. Acting serves many purposes. You will learn to put on an invisible mask, and it will help you in many, many ways. We shall begin with the ability to manipulate one's voice. If you do wish to perform, we usual start with the basics of the stage-- but since this institute has no stage, we will cover voices first. Any questions before we begin?"

Regardless, Mia would continue with the following.

~*~

The Voice

"Take these pieces of parchment and write down two emotions, both of you, Hsin and Jaali. Then, using these two emotions, say the following. What a beautiful brightening it is. Begin, but be sure to take into consideration vocal variety and rhythm..."

Jaa hastily wrote down her two favorite emotions: stupid and silly. Then she realized that though one could feel stupid and silly, they weren't really emotions. Cross cross cross out-- Sad and happy then, quite simple.

"What a beautiful brightening it is!" Happy, cheerful, loud, smile smile.

"What... a beautiful brightening... it is..." Sigh, sad.

[Hsin]

Hsin nibbled on the end of his pen as he mentally rifled through a list of emotions. He had no problems with any emotions pertaining to business. Even if he absolutely hated an merchant’s guts and wished to see him slowly bleed to death in the gutters, the Kemite would still smile and remain polite—or, at the least, indifferent. Raging anger briefly appeared as a possibility, but Hsin quickly dismissed it as a possibility. It wasn’t really a matter of practice so much as a loss of a person’s self-control. No one needed practice in that. This left roughly cut his list in half. After all, why practice something that came naturally? He snuck a quick glance at Jaali as she hastily scribbled on a piece of parchment. At least someone besides the teacher seemed perfectly comfortable with the subject matter. For all his love for subjects arcane and martial, the Kemite seemed to have a bit of trouble with a good number of the more socially oriented subjects. Formal study of the discipline of Philosophy would probably constitute a several hour long period of worship to Kaimelia for the young Kemite. Unless he found a good teacher, Alchemy would only result in the destruction of several hundred crowns worth of precious lab equipment and quite possibly the destruction of a good portion of the laboratory. He didn’t think the professor would look kindly upon getting his beard singed off, at any rate.

He listened patiently to Jaali’s rendition of a morning greeting in a happy and a slightly less happy voice. On second thought, the last sentence would be better classified as sad. With her boundless energy, the Kemite could understand why a casual (and purposely stupid) listener would get them mixed up. After several more moments of frantic scribbling, Hsin came up with two emotions he desperately needed to emulate. Happiness and Sincerity. He truly did feel happy most every day, otherwise he would have left the Material Plane a long time ago. Remembering the happy cadences of Jaali’s voice, Hsin smiled widely and said, in as bright and cheery of a voice as he could muster, said, ”What a beautiful brightening it is!” It seemed so silly and rather corny, but the Kemite could certainly see the reason behind the madness. Perhaps it would be better to exaggerate the emotion? Only the more cynical members of the species were apt to suspect some trickery, at any rate. Most people would think that he was simply a rather emotional fool. Sincerity was something he needed to express with a good deal more regularity. Putting on an eager face and trying to sound like he clearly *wasn’t* lying, Hsin enthused, ”What a beautiful brightening it is!”

[Jaali Desseren]

Miausyn commented on both her pupils' performances and felt that the half-elf needed to distinguish more between her moods. As for the Kemite, his performance was adequate.

"The next step will be fun, that I hope to be true. I trained this way myself prior to mastering the skill. I will give you a play in which each of you will play a few characters of your choice. I have the play here. Take some time to read it over and I shall be back with a chest of props*." Miausyn the angel smiled sweetly, the saccharine nature of her smile infectiously delicious.

The Dragon and the Fly

There once was a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. The boy held an emerald in his hands and the girl a ruby since their birth. They had no parents and it was said they appeared beside a rock that cracked open one brightening... The boy set out to find a dragon and the girl a fly, each with their own reasons, but no one knew why. The story is set in a town of lizardmen and cranky hermits. The story begins with the departure and separation of the twins...

"Hsin! I want to be the boy!"

Soon, Mia reappeared and as promised, she held a chest in her hand. A chest of props... Cute little toys for good little girls and sad little boys... Poor Hsin. What humiliation... There was a pretty little bow and pretty little girls wore pretty little bows.

"So, are we set? Shall we begin?"

[Hsin]

While Hsin had only begun training in martial endeavors, the young Kemite had a fairly developed sense of danger. Walking down dark alleys in the Undercity of Vortex, for example, was a very good way to find yourself lying in a gutter with your throat split. Insulting a well armed guard was a good way to spend a night in the goal. As he briefly skimmed the synopsis of the play, Hsin almost uttered a word of thanks that the only audience was a hyperactive half-elvin girl and a slightly-less-than angelic instructor. Jaali’s next words cause the Kemite’s blood to freeze and sweat to glisten on his forehead. If she wanted to play the boy, the cruel and unusual process of eliminations left Hsin only one choice: playing the girl. His mouth flopped open and closed like a beached fish before their teacher returned bearing toys and a single pink bow.

”Yes, I suppose we’re ready ma’am.” said Hsin as he bent over and retrieved the pink bow along with a little red stone and a beaten teddy bear. As long as he was going to utterly humiliate himself, he might as well do so in style. Feeling more than a little silly, Hsin pulled the long, silky hair back into a rough pony tail before securing it in place with the pink bow. This was utterly humiliating. Picking the red jewel up his right hand and draping the teddy bear over his left arm, Hsin waited until Jaali had completed her own preparations before standing to her left. Inhaling slowly, Hsin self-consciously smiled and tried to look as innocent and cute as possible. His lips smiled widely and his eyes took on a strange glimmer. He couldn’t possibly look that much like a girl…could he? Waiting until Jaali had finished, the Kemite decided to seize the initiative and start the debac…er…play. In a voice that almost dripped cheerfulness, Hsin bounced a bit on his feet before addressing Jaali. ”Serale! How are you this fine brightening?”

[Jaali Desseren]

Ooc: sorry for month+ wait, won't happen again, I think we can finish this thread with one or two more replies!

ic:

It would take a whole lot of imagination for one to see the pair as twins and even more imagination to see the young man as a little girl. Following Hsin's brilliant initiative, Jaa piled her braids of auburn into a bun atop her head so that she'd look more like a boy. Hey, she had the flat ironboard of a chest and her looks were far from pulchritudinous like those beauties possessed.

Grabbing a fake emerald from the chest, Jaa looked through it like a curious little boy, holding it up towards the ceiling that doubled as the skies and an invisible light called the sun.

"Serale Cinnamon I am fine on this fine brightening! Ye?" Her own tone of voice was sugarly sweet and squeaky. The half-elf imagined pre-pubescent boys to possess mouse-like chirp voices. She remembered Garrick as a child sounding more like a girl than she did!

"I think it is time to leave this town of smelly hermits and cranky beasts! I will set out to find a dragon!!"

Now her arms were outstretched. She had flung them open and in the process releasing the emerald like a bullet. Poor Miausyn was in the way of the emerald's path and though the fake gem was light and made of soft material, it hurt when it smacked her head.

"Ouch!"

Haven't seen or noticed by sound the smacking of the gem on Miausyn's face, Jaa just thought their instructor was playing along.

"My dear sister Cinammon! Look there yonder! A cranky, smelly lizardman!" Jaa wailed and pointed at poor angelic Miausyn...

[Hsin]

It was his own fault for braiding his hair.

Before Hana’s icy touch altered his memories and warped his mind, Hsin had always adored (and sometimes spoiled) his two younger sisters. Shamefully the Kemite had to admit that he had resented the birth of his first sibling, jealous at the attention she received from friends and family. But the dearth of fellow Kemites and the inherent introverted nature of their culture meant there were few other playmates. They began to develop a grudging relationship of mutual understanding, that blossomed into a close relationship during their teenage years. His youngest sister, on the other hand, was universally loved her friends, her family, and even the pets. Both siblings knew well how to appear as prim, proper, and demure ladies for their mother, only to disappear into the fields at their first opportunity. Circumstances had robbed him of these warm memories, erecting an invisible wall between the young apprentice and his family members. Instead, he carried the sixteen patterns worth of memories and sensations Hana had collected during her brief existence. More than any other male, Hsin knew intimately how it felt to be a girl.

Now could he act like one?

His eyes looked at Miausyn with a gaze of pure pity. The poor teacher looked slightly worse for the wear after receiving a gem in the side of her head. Jaali seemed to continue acting without acknowledging the accident. Or was it an accident? Mrs. Tieranin probably deserved far worse for the sketch and the skit she was putting her two students through. But his face lit up in a bright smile, his lips formed into a slightly overdone caricature of a girlish smile. Only slightly, anyways. A false twinkle appeared in his eyes, another touch the Kemite tried hard to craft from mere memories. ”I’m doing beautifully, dear brother!” he spoke in a high and cheery voice. Unfortunately for Hsin, his voice would always dwell in the higher octaves of the male register. After Jaali’s second line, the Kemite suddenly adopted a look of grave concern, and said in a slightly worried voice, ”Leave the town? Out into the wide, wide world?”

There was certainly a sense of justice in Alleria, personified by the casting of their poor teacher. A certain measure of glee and righteous indignation mixed in Hsin as the Kemite happily indulged in some creative impromptu acting at the teacher’s expense. All in good fun, of course. In a cheerier voice and with a slight pout, Hsin said, ”I suppose it would be exciting. And it certainly seems so very strange here with the smelly hermits and lizardmen. But how will we get to the dragon?” He shifted the teddy bear and the gem to one arm, and offered the other hand to Jaali. To skip, or to hold, or simply to shake.