bin. 9m

calla RP Tutor 2,122 POSTS Pronouns: she/they last seen Apr 23, 2024 23:49:00 GMT -5 just a litle creacher	bin. 9m May 15, 2022 22:21:13 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by calla on May 15, 2022 22:21:13 GMT -5 xǔ hàobīn 許浩斌 17, he/him, gemini 旦 performer 9m of the 7th
	Last Edit: May 16, 2022 19:59:48 GMT -5 by calla ⇀ tracker ↼ ⇀ 2024 upat ↼

calla RP Tutor 2,122 POSTS Pronouns: she/they last seen Apr 23, 2024 23:49:00 GMT -5 just a litle creacher	bin. 9m May 15, 2022 22:46:50 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by calla on May 15, 2022 22:46:50 GMT -5 THE BÁISHÉ OPERA COMPANY 白蛇歌剧 TRAVELLING TOUR POSTPONED
	Last Edit: May 16, 2022 19:27:39 GMT -5 by calla ⇀ tracker ↼ ⇀ 2024 upat ↼

calla
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2,122 POSTS

Pronouns: she/they
last seen Apr 23, 2024 23:49:00 GMT -5

just a litle creacher

bin. 9m May 16, 2022 18:22:42 GMT -5

Quote

Post by calla on May 16, 2022 18:22:42 GMT -5

斌

"Tao's back for you."

Bin's brush falters and his long line of eyeliner swoops down. He stares at the dip in the mirror, the way the black runs and falls and then sputters out, and then he watches his own eye twitch.

"Tell him not until after the show."

He yanks the bag of cotton pads out from under the vanity and starts over, digging his thumb into the white of the oil paints.

"He's being insistent."

"Then tell him insistently."

A cymbal crashes and Bin reaches for a rouge palette, Yu's left such a mess of the counter that Bin's elbow knocks over a stack of hairpieces and the one perched on top falls to the floor. One two three rhinestones go flying and roll under a chair and Bin only reaches down to pick the clip up so he can hurl it across the room.

It hits the door where the script is tacked and breaks off into three more pieces.

"...I'll tell him not tonight."

"You do that."

Bin sits again and the face brush creaks under his hand.

Tao's harmless, in the grand scheme of things. He buys the boys expensive trinkets and badgers them before curtain call until they eventually let him down into the greenroom. He's lonely and likes pretty things but he isn't that unique from any other patron.

The only difference is Tao's attractive, with streaks of silver near his temples and pockets that seem near endless. Lanyan's usually the one he calls after because Lanyan will let him in no matter how rushed they are. He lets Tao tie his jade belt and then kisses his cheek, fastens the mang and then drags his long nails down the side of Tao's face to leave angry red marks that neither of them ever seem bothered by.

Bin is at the point of ignoring it, he just adjusts his guan and rolls his eyes. It's clockwork at this point - some kind of territorial thing that no one else has any interest getting into. Tao isn't the only sucker that follows the Baishe around, but he certainly seems to be the favourite.

It's unspoken, but they all know that it's the patrons that keep the company floating. The arts had taken a nosedive when the war started, just like every other industry had. The older performers say that everything was different before the fighting, more glitz and less gunpowder, back when Lanyan was the only 旦 because he was the only one that had the legs for it.

It's like reminiscing for something that never existed. Of course things were better before people decided they were too busy shooting each other. No one has the time or the money or the taste for the opera anymore. Packed shows dwindle until the only people in the crowd are the wealthy arms dealers and the off-duty Capitol soldiers stationed nearby.

So Lanyan would give private shows for the dignitaries; he'd sing in places other than just One and Two. The troupe moved to where they were needed and sometimes they moved to where they weren't. There'd be free performances of Peony Pavilion for the masses in Six and everyone knew that if Lanyan wore green instead of yellow during the third act it meant that troops were on their way and once the curtain went down the audience had to go home and board up their windows.

Then when the bombs came down a little harder, they adjusted a little more. Princess Iron Fan had a heroic Peacekeeper character added that made the soldiers all cheer during the matinees. The entire fighting number was pulled from Madam White and the hollowed out spears were either sold or filled with sand so there was no risk of any actors smuggling weapons into the venues.

Lanyan painted a snake along his hairline to play Adder Ames in a Games performance that only stayed in the rotation for a month before he dramatically threw himself off the stage and into the crowd because he hated the principal song so much.

The war starts and stops, the borders close and open and then close again. The company finds an old stage in Nine, half blown-out, half-rebuilt. The acoustics are shitty because the roof is open but the guy that owns the place sells it off as a skylight instead of a crash site.

Bin was only 9 and putting up flyers, doing backflips in his spare time so he wouldn't slip in the chorus and ruin the one show they'd been able to book that month.

His mother had been third 旦, traveling with the troupe before the Districts finally got shut down and they all got stuck in Nine. She gave birth to Haoyu five years after Bin and then died from a laying disease. Her caller stopped attending shows and they never heard from him again.

Lanyan kept them both on though, there's not much in the way of pay but there's a roof and clothes and unless they already have another bed lined up for the night, the whole company bunks down underneath the stage.

Yu's too young to do anything but stand in the wings as seventh 旦, but Bin worms himself into rehearsals and readings and eventually slips sewing needles into the slippers of the fourth 旦 that they'd picked up in Seven. The older boy leaves on a foot injury, someone has to help him down the stairs, and Lanyan watches them go stoically from his velvet chaise.

He finds Bin practicing junban that night and makes a show of putting the needles back into their case, moving with a pointed slowness.

Lanyan has callers from all over Panem, not just Nine, and so it becomes Bin's job to have his brushes cleaned and his robe ready for when he's back in the morning. The embroidery on the phoenix mang is fraying but there's a tailor in Nine that works magic as long as she gets free tickets to the new shows. Bin goes from sixth to fifth 旦 over a single summer and Lanyan jokingly asks when he can expect the poison in his tea.

Except his gaze is so sharp that they both know he's not joking.

He takes Bin to be fitted for a kao and xipei and never brings it up again.

There's a lot of moments like that - when they'll all freeze and suddenly remember who they are and what they're doing. It's like a short breath of sobriety in the middle of a bender, those fleeting moments of lucidity that plague an artist. Lanyan will accuse someone of trying to kill him and take his spot, and then he'll go back to puffing purple clouds out through the fire escape. Bin will throw a hairpiece at a door and crush a compact in his palm until it makes him bleed, then someone else will come to fuss over it and he'll go back to fixing his hair.

The performers all titter over the new stagehand, lounging on cushions patched with velvet while a shelter starves three streets over. The new fifth 旦 twirls a blunted sword and accidentally cuts through his hair. The others just laugh, not even bothering to hide it behind their hands. Bin says something cruel but forgets it the moment it leaves his mouth.

The rest of the boys flutter around him, shoulders shaking, giggling, and he feels drunk from it.

The incense burns down and someone jumps to replace it. Bin grins lazily and pretends that he can make the face out through the little flame.

He'll be primary 旦 soon, now that Lanyan's almost done dusting over his thirties with powder and rouge and god knows what else. Bin knows how to bat his eyes and look coy, he's mastered wuxi, he knows how to jab a salad fork into a man's thigh when he gets too handsy. Lanyan taught him to smoke the same way he taught him to sing and dance and lie. They share long cigarettes and eat capers and Lanyan teaches him how to navigate callers and patrons and the ones that aren't worth his time.

Tao's on one of those lists, Bin knows which one it is, knew from the moment he saw those scratches, but he hasn't decided what to do about it yet.

He's a good performer. He's never claimed to be a good person.

"Tao says he's not gonna leave until you say yes."

Bin glances at the little clock on the wall. He's still got half his face to put on and there's barely fifteen minutes until his piece. His pei lies on the chair beside him, two rows of pearl buttons waiting for his fingers to trip and stumble over.

"Fine."

The final verse of Lanyan's song drifts down the stairs.

"Let him in."

Last Edit: May 16, 2022 19:57:40 GMT -5 by calla

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calla
RP Tutor

2,122 POSTS

Pronouns: she/they
last seen Apr 23, 2024 23:49:00 GMT -5

just a litle creacher

bin. 9m May 16, 2022 18:32:30 GMT -5

Quote

Post by calla on May 16, 2022 18:32:30 GMT -5

TERMS & NAMES

旦 / Dàn, the female lead roles in the Peking opera. Traditionally played by an all male cast.
白蛇 / Bái Shé, white snake. From the opera Madam White or The Legend of the White Snake.
铁扇公主 / Princess Iron Fan. An adapted opera from Journey to the West.
牡丹亭 / Peony Pavilion. A popular Kunqu opera.

Pei, informal opera robe.
Mang, formal opera robe.
Kao, military opera robe.
Guan, formal opera headpiece.
Xipei, formal scarves of high-ranking women.
Wuxi, operas focused on martial arts and acrobatics.
Junban, beauty makeup used for 旦 roles.

淘 / Tào, to clean.
蓝燕 / Lán Yàn, blue swallow bird.
浩斌 / Hào Bīn, grand refinement.
浩玉 / Hào Yù, grand jade.
許 / Xǔ, to allow.

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calla RP Tutor 2,122 POSTS Pronouns: she/they last seen Apr 23, 2024 23:49:00 GMT -5 just a litle creacher	bin. 9m May 16, 2022 20:00:21 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by calla on May 16, 2022 20:00:21 GMT -5 L△LIA
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L△LIA RP Tutor 3,567 POSTS last seen Jun 24, 2019 15:25:10 GMT -5 BOOM SH△KALAKA	bin. 9m May 17, 2022 14:58:47 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by L△LIA on May 17, 2022 14:58:47 GMT -5 ACCEPTED!
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