To the Captain

The past two weeks of rehearsal have been interesting as far as "serious" character development has gone. Last week I found Anne's deep want. This week, I discovered why she hangs around Frobisher. The question of if Anne had any real loyalty to Frobisher/ why does she stay with him came up.

It's not because he pays her well, because he doesn't.
It's not because he's a respectful, understanding, charitable human being...because that's not really Frobisher.
So I'm going to let you all read her answer in her own words, a bit more eloquent than the answer that I fished up at the time.

Anne's Words-

Wherefore do I remain in the service of Captain Frobisher? If you wish a honest and true answer you must give me your solemn word that you shall not disclose this information to him. For I do not think that I could face him if he did hold the knowledge of my great debt to him.
It is no secret to me that my guise and great pretend is hardly a disguise at all. While some do seek to keep me in a woman's place, or jail, I am relieved that there are many more who simply ignore the fact displayed in front of them.
Except the Captain. My Captain, it does seem, remains blind despite all manner of blunders and accidents that have transpired during the time I have been in his employ as his apprentice. There are times as such when he does slip and call me by the name of "Mr. Drew" and then a blank look crosses his face and we do resume our normal camaraderie. I cannot therefore say for certain that his is completely unaware of my true self. And I find that I do owe him my loyalty for that fact alone, that he willfully (as least, I so do assume) remains blind and chooses to believe that I, Anne Drew, am Andrew. It is by this belief on his part that I do remain as his apprentice until such a time when I have completed said apprenticeship, or some other fate does befall me (may that never come to pass, for I can think of many an unpleasant ending).
Do I wish that my Captain might one day be able to accept me as his apprentice without this great pretend? I do suppose that I wish that no matter who my master would be. However, just by the fact that he has not thrown me off of his ship for good, or killed me, or worse, is enough for the time being. I do think well of the Captain for all of his eccentric ways.

Now keep these words to yourself or else I shall cause you a mischief so that you will not easily rise from your bed for a sen'night at the least!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So thank you to Steve- who gave me this question. And thank you to my cast for giving me a set of Hot Seat questions that almost stumped me and actually made me think. Too often I've gotten the superficial questions and this week you all gave me doozies that I am still grappling with and thinking about. Anne is not one to open up often about certain parts of her life, but I'm glad fro the chance to explore.

Anne's Want

Well...wonder of wonders, I've found Anne's SuperObjective. Yes this is a big and scary looking word and has often been the bane of my existence when creating characters.

The question- What does your character want most?

That question made me stop and think for a minute because it's not really about a material or superficial thing. Some superficial things came to my mind as I tried to sort through Anne's layers (Shrek onion moment!).
- Anne wants to be paid. Okay that's nice, but that's not the only thing she wants. Anne would like a warm cloak too but that's not really a deep and burning wants.
- Anne wants to be captain one day. Gee that's great too, but that's more of an external ambition that might change as she "grows up" (since Anne will never really grow up enough to become a Captain- her storyline is placed at Ship's Boy status indefinitely).

I passed a few other ideas through my head before this particular thought popped into my brain. "Where does Anne able to be just Anne?"
The answer is a little bit sad. Anne doesn't really have a home or a place that she can just be Anne Drew (or Anne FitzHawkyns/FitzJohn). She doesn't have a place where she can belong without being questioned. The mere fact that she is obviously a girl dressing in man's clothing makes people question her.
Anne loves being a sailor. She loves the freedom and adventure that going on voyages brings. She loves the community that is on ship.

What Anne wants most of all is a place in the world where she can do what she loves without society judging her and forbidding her from doing whatever it is.

The character who happens to give Anne a chance at that is a rather unlikely character. His name is Lefty. He just wants Anne to be happy. He just wants everyone to be happy. He sees Anne for who she is and he accepts her without question as to why she's trying to perform a man's job, and dressing in male clothing.
In return, Anne notices Lefty. Not many people do. Anne not only notices Lefty, but when the Gabriel is in port at Bristol Anne tries to seek Lefty out and make sure he's eating something more than pine cones and grass.

So to put it simply as possible for the moment (I'll continue to par it down as the season goes on).

Anne wants to belong somewhere without needing to comprise herself.

Ship Shape and Shaping Up

Went to Janesville this weekend.

Firstly, it was AWESOME! I loved being back as AnneDrew, the pants I made worked out very well, and I spent two days with people who make me feel normal.

However, I seemed to have either pushed the envelope a few times, or I'm just not in as great shape as I thought I was.

It's possible that both are true. I've been battling a lot of stress lately and haven't been able to eat properly for the past week or so. I was only able to eat one meal without trouble this weekend. So I snacked a lot and drank a lot of water. That is how I usually eat at Faire, so I wasn't sure why I was having issues.
Possibly the issue is that I haven't had the rehearsal month of walking around and getting used to the heat and acclimating myself. Instead I threw myself into 70+ degrees of heat and added humidity. However, I made it through each day without coming close to going down. A few rough spots, yes, but nothing that I would label as serious.

So now I have to evaluate my level of physical fitness. To most people, I look really fit. For the most part I am very fit. I dance, I walk and jog a little, I stretch, and do my best to eat healthy. Now I'm considering endurance training of some sort. Swimming would be a great option for summer, and better for my joints than running on a treadmill.

Now for the Bright Side of things.

I really like where AnneDrew seemed to be going this weekend. I noted some things that I need to improve on and learn, but overall I was pleased with the direction that Anne's character took. I think that the word "spunky" and "underdog" was mentioned more that a few times. By the end of the season last year AnneDrew was only starting to get her confidence, she was still very wary of being discovered. This whole weekend AnneDrew wasn't concerned at all, in fact, she was confident and assured about her place. Sure she'd joke about becoming Captain, but she's content to be Apprentice/Ship's Boy for the moment. I think she'd make a good life for herself in time.

A while back I said I was going to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with this blog. I've made a Facebook page for AnneDrew to do some fun stuff, I'm planning on working on my ship vocabulary through some posts there. I'm working on some stories (some of which were told for the first time at Janesville) that will be posted here and this blog will keep on as a record of my Ren Faire Adventures. I'll try to put some historical articles and essays up here as well, and updates will always be linked through my Facebook Anne-Drew Page. My other performance opportunities. For those and the rest of my adventures head on over to my other blog- Astonishing.

So- if you want to get updates from this blog- go and "like" my Anne-Drew page! It would mean a lot for you to support me as I continue my fledgeling career.

---Kait (Anne-Drew)

Peaking Around the Corner

With a breath of spring air, I feel suddenly.....

homesick.

Bristol is calling like the sea calls to the sailor. I hear piped tunes in my head and sea shanties are on repeat in my mind all the live long day. I'm longing for the day when I can dig out my notes and history books on Tudor England and dive back into something that I love learning about. Maybe I'll actually master those knots this year.

I've been away from this blog for too long. Life has explode and I've had good reason to put Anne (and my other characters) on the back burner so that I can take care of reality. I'm still "taking care of reality." In other words, college finals are in two weeks and I have a 15 page paper to write for my history class, and a few things for my acting class that sort of take precedence over AnneDrew. Sorry dearest Anne.

However, that doesn't mean I'm not daydreaming about the stories I want to tell, or that I'm not planning and thinking about the upcoming Bristol season.

I feel like I could do more with Anne. Maybe something slightly more educational? Like essays or little fact filled posts? Maybe a short series of pirate lingo lessons. It doesn't really have to be too serious.

Things I have done for Anne-
I've made my first Anne costume! Last year I started amassing the things I needed to make my sailor costume and with one shirt that I purchased at the Faire (quality over my poor sewing skills), a jacket turned into a doublet from Goodwill, and a sewn pair of PANTS that I am very proud of, I have made my AnneDrew costume.

I want to get back to Bristol. I know it's only a month away and there's a faire in between that, and a few other delightful things coming up this May. Anne is starting to tap her foot and look at me like I'm neglecting her. After school is over I shall have time!
And more posts!
And a plan for this blog!

Until 14 days from now!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas Anne went to bed and had, Twelve Odd Dreams.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas Anne went to bed and had, Twelve Odd Dreams.

“Got yourself into another scrape?” Hawkyns couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face at his daughter’s predicament.

“Just untie me please.” Anne muttered. Hawkyns cut the bonds around Anne’s wrists and ankles and she managed to wriggle out of the rest. “I think I’ve had enough for one night.” From the look of it, many people had already had enough fun for one night. Frobisher was nowhere to be seen, probably upstairs in one of the rented rooms. She’d have to make her way back to the ship on her own. It weren’t too far a walk.

The swaying of the ship usually sent Anne into a dreamless sleep that she would wake from just in time to take her watch on deck, but that dreamless quality that Anne held dear eluded her.

Anne’s dreams began back in the small room her mother rented. Anne had grown up in this Inn, the only child of several floozies who rented rooms. The whole house was empty of people. The streets were silent. In her dream, Anne ran down the stair and stepped out into Fleet Street.

The moment that her feet would have touched the road, the streets of London transformed into a forest. Out of nowhere, Robin Hood and his Merry Men came racing through yelling about the sheriff being on their heels. Anne didn’t waste any time in following Robin through the maze of trees.

Just as Will Scarlet was giving Anne a hand up into the branches of one of the trees, the branches became ropes and Anne was back on the Gabriel, tossing in a gale. This dream wasn’t so unfamiliar, there had been one or two storms at sea during Anne’s voyages. She gripped a knife between her teeth so that she could cut the lines. One faulty step, and Anne was sent tumbling down into the sea.

Remarkably, Anne found that she could breathe underwater, as one often can in dreams. Sirens swam around her and reached out their arms. They pulled Anne through the waters towards the surface and Anne crawled out onto a sunny shore of someplace that looked a bit like Italy (if Anne ever knew what Italy might look like).

A group of people surrounded the gasping young woman. Their facial features was so exaggerated that they almost seemed to be wearing masks. Anne couldn’t understand their strangely accented speech, but after a few moments Anne was hoisted into a hay filled cart and the group started out on a journey of some sorts.

As she was being pulled, Anne swore that she saw fey folk trailing them along the road. A blue fish like fey sat next to her in the cart and few bubbles in her face. Anne’s limbs felt so heavy that she couldn’t brush him away. Pan, eating a pretzel, appeared not too long after, making faces as he consumed the salty snack.

The worst was yet to come as more fey folk joined Anne in the cart, then proceeded to pick up the cabin “boy” and fly off. The flight itself was terrible, but Anne could have sworn that she had seen the Normyl sisters somewhere in the sky during her flight.

The fey folk set Anne back down in Bristol in the middle of a great crowd of foreign looking people. Merchants sold and hawked their wares under a blistering summer sun. Performers mingled and showed their tricks and pieces. The rat catcher delighted children with a trick where he made a mouse pop out of a book. Anne wandered around until she tripped and found herself face down in the dust of the street at the feet of some high born lady.

Looking up, Anne gazed into the face of none other than Queen Elizabeth herself. Scrambling to pick herself up off of the ground, Anne bowed low and hoped to high heaven that she hadn’t committed any serious faux pas. Daring to look up, Anne now stared into the face of a rather spectral dark figure that moved without sound. They were all about the town of Bristol, and shivers ran up Anne’s spine. One of them touched her and Anne’s world went dark.

Opening her eyes, Anne found her next dream world to be in Captain Frobisher’s cabin. Captain Frobisher was throwing out all of the ship’s rum, insisting that it was from the devil himself and should not be aboard any self respecting English ship. Anne knew that this had to be a dream, there was no way that Captain Frobisher would ever throw out any booze of any sort. Anne hurried from the cabin into an even stranger scenario.

Outside on the deck of the Gabriel the crew were fighting with what appeared to be most of the Draco disciples. The strange part of that scenario was that they were fighting with clothing fabric and seeing who could come up with the best gown for Queen Elizabeth within half of an hour. Debating whether or not to go back and help Captain Frobisher dispose of the rum (and stash some away for her own personal use), Anne looked over the side of the ship and promptly was shoved overboard for the second time in her dreams.  

This time Anne fell into a mass of fluffy pillows, or so it seemed. Sitting up, Anne found herself in one of the lovely but quite impractical noble’s dresses. Afternoon sunlight flooded the garden of some wealthy estate and another young lady dressed in a green gown similar to Anne’s was hurrying towards her.

“Anne!” She said in a very familiar voice, “Anne wake up!”

Anne opened her eyes, on Christmas Morn, to see a very disgruntled Crew assembled behind John the boatswain. “Anne wake up!”

“What?” Anne replied blearily, nearly falling out of her hammock. “Will said he’d take my watch for me!”

“It’s not about the watch lass,” John sighed. “Captain’s in jail again and we need you to get him out.” He handed Anne a dress and she sighed.

“I’m gonna kill him one of these days.” She threw the skirts on over her clothing and laced up the bodice. “Who’s got the money this time?” 

And it was back to business as normal. 

Fin. 

Well I hope you all enjoyed the most random thing I've ever written in my life. I hope it gives you giggles. I had fun writing this and it was a good lesson for me in keeping to something and seeing a self set deadline through, even if I finished two days late. Thanks for bearing with me. 

I'm probably going to let Anne cool off now that I've abused her character for this story. Possibly some Anya stories coming up, or just some random prose that has nothing to do with the characters that I've been playing. For some reason I'm much more protective of those characters than the ones that I act out. 

Once again, thanks for letting me post my rubbish.

On the Eleventh day of Christmas Lefty gave to me…Eleven pieces of Rope!

On the Eleventh day of Christmas Lefty gave to me…Eleven pieces of Rope!

Inside the Duck once again, Anne was pulled aside by Lefty, the Inglesman. Another employee of Jasper Trustworthy, Lefty knew nothing of his background other than one day Jasper had found him in the streets and made him his assistant of some sort. Lefty’s reasoning for his being English was that he spoke what he called “Ingles” and therefore he must be English. However, Anne and most others, couldn’t help but wonder at Lefty’s nationality when he spoke Spanish and spoke with that particular accent.

“Anne Drew!” Lefty bounced up and down and Anne had to put a hand on Lefty’s shoulder to keep him still. “Want to see a trick?”

“All right.” Anne agreed with a little bit of misgiving. One could never tell what Lefty was going to do when he started one of his magic tricks. He was a very apt magician and the children gathered round to see what he was going to do.

Lefty started out by producing eleven pieces of rope. “We are going to have to tie you up!” Anne, despite her misgivings, let Lefty knot the ropes around her arms and legs. The children murmured among themselves and giggled as Anne made faces and tried not to get nervous as she lost movement abilities.

“Now what Lefty?” Anne tried to keep her voice civil. Lefty finished the last knot near Anne’s ankles and stepped back.

“I run away now!” He grinned and scampered off. The children erupted into laughter and Anne was at a loss as to how to fix the situation due to the fact that Lefty had also tied her wrists together. 

Fin. 

Sorry about the delay. Life got in the way again and I haven't been able to post until now. I guess I'll be finishing a day late, but I'm going to stick with this and get this challenge done!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas Anne went outside to see…Ten Lords a Leaping!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas Anne went outside to see…Ten Lords a Leaping!

“Anne!” Came a voice from Anne’s elbow. It was Maggie Pie, the pickpocket and employee of Jasper Trustworthy. “Come outside with us!” The young girl tugged at Anne’s sleeve and handed Anne a cloak and a pair of boots. Knowing better than to ask where the cloak or boots came from, Anne wrapped the fabric around her shoulders and pulled the shoes on her feet.

“What’s outside Maggie?”

“There’s some high born lords out there kicking around a ball on the ice!” Maggie led Anne out of the Dirty Duck Inn and they watched as some of the wealthier inhabitants of Bristol went sliding and leaping about on the icy patches of the streets.

“Want to go sliding?” Maggie asked.

“Why not?” Anne stepped out on the ice and slid a few feet. A memory of the arctic and the icy shores flashed through her mind. “Come on Maggie!”

Maggie slid a bit more cautiously than Anne, but within minutes the two girls were sliding about and throwing snow balls at the lords playing football. Some of the children of Bristol joined in and Anne found herself being tackled by many of the nipperkins from the Dirty Duck Inn.

“Watch my head!” She cried out as she allowed herself to be tugged to the ground. “All right all right, you’ve got me!”

Just then there came some sort of cry from the door of the Duck promising a hot beverage if the little ones would be ushered in. Anne and Maggie had their hands full rallying the anklebiters back into the warmth. It might have only been a quick fifteen minutes of skating, but it was worth the frozen noses and fingers. 

Fin.