Dancer Archive
Thread: A story written by a friend about life as a dancer.
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Reachwind
Fri Dec 03, 2004 8:48 am
#1
The following story was sent to me via email last night. I was not given permission to repost it but after reading it I felt the need to post it. My friend is a dancer on Tarquanis and had an experience that left her in tears after a guild on her server dropped a buff bot on her and her friends. Here is the untitled story;
Untitled by Else Whira
Else Whira loved to dance. Even before she had those breakout years as a sought after clothing designer and well before she graduated top of her class from the imperial medical academy she had been a dancer. It was the reflexes she had honed in dance that had caught the eye of the imperial drill instructor at the academy. One look at her movements was enough to have her transferred into his special Teras Kasi training program.
Doctor, tailor, Teras Kasi master, even the simple business of running a successful shop never came close to the joy of dance for Else. When the time came and her tour of duty ran out as a combat soldier and she could finally return to her life as normal citizen of the empire it seemed to Else that this was the perfect opportunity to return to her beloved dance.
She stepped off the shuttle in the Theed space port and took a deep breath of th fresh Nubian air. There on the wall of the space port was a number of posters displaying the various acts you could see performing in the famed Theed cantina. All the greats were there. Acts like Solar Flair, Krys Ter-Luceyn, Avadiha Soep, TEC and Hotte Hue. She could feel the excitement building. Here was a town built by artisans with an eye for beauty. The people were known throughout the galaxy as patrons of the arts. Specifically music and dance.
It did not take Else long to make a name for herself as a dancer. Where one entertainer would play one set she would play five. In the times when perhaps one person might wander by to hear the bands practice or do a sound check for a later performance, Else would make sure to get up on the stage and dance. The years spent honing her body in the Teras Kasi arts and her skills as a doctor gave her stamina that no Twi'lek dancing girl could match. She soon became known as the dancer to see during those off hour times when the headlining acts were not ready to perform.
Then her world was destroyed.
Else was doing a very seductive exotic dance. Not with the skill of a master dancer but nearly so. She still did not have the skill with healing and enhancing the mind the way an Avadiha or member of Solar Flair might but it was damn good to the untrained eye. A young warrior brazenly walked into the cantina. The air of invincibility and youth clung to his manner the way the symbol of the rebellion clung openly to his shirt sleeve. Behind Else on the stage several members of the headlining acts sat at their instruments idly chatting or tuning their instruments for an evening of play. At this time of day though there was no act but Else for a warrior to enjoy. The young man walked up to Else rudely pushing by her and blurted out over the house music, "I'm joining this band having you perform for me, now."
Taken aback Else tried calmly saying, "I'm sorry they aren't ready to play yet good sir. Perhaps if my skills are not great enough you could try the Corellian cantinas I hear they are bustling this time of day from other weary travelers."
His face flashed anger, "This band will do, I'm joining and they are playing."
"I'm sorry that's just not possible." Else said trying her hardest to be a peacemaker, "You'll have to try somewhere else for that service right now."
"We'll see." He said in a way that left Else's skin crawling. As he walked around the corner of the cantina exit Else could hear him contacting someone over his comm unit.
Several hours went by without much more happening. All in all a normal day by Theed cantina standards. Many people stopped in and saw her dance. The headlining acts even had Else stay and play between their own sets. Something that would do wonders for Else's career. The band struck up a wonderfully played Jazz and the dancers twirled gracefully the way only a master of the art can do. It was then that a large wookiee and several members of the rebellion walked in carrying a large crate. Else's stomach turned as she saw the young man from this morning's set.
With a loud clang the crate opened just in front of the stage. The big wookiee howled and pulled out a small remote from his cloak. With a series of clicks the contents of the crate came to life in a huge barrage of color and unavoidable sound. "DFR is proud to present, free 24 hour BUFFOVISION! Had a rough day in space? Need a little extra umph when you are in combat - Enjoy DFR's BUFFOVISION! Free 24 hour entertainment coming to you in the THEED CANTINA! No need tip this, no entertainer to deny you a show no snooty dancer to tell you that she can't enhance your mind from lack of skill. That was then, this is BUFFOVISION!" A series of badly done sit coms and poorly played songs with flashing lights played on the screen with badly choreographed dancers barely staying with the beat. Yet the soldiers who only moments earlier were watching every turn of a live dancer's body were now staring fixated at the screen.
Furious Else stormed up to the cantina manager a surely barkeep named ChrisO. "Are you going to let them put that there? They are doing it to interrupt our show on purpose."
The surly ChrisO looked over at Else and shrugged. "They aren't breaking any laws and the custom doesn't seem to mind."
"They are ruining our shows." Else said this time tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. "Please, can't you do something?" It was as if all of the long hours she had put into entertaining his customers long past the time he would regularly have custom were now totally forgotten.
"Look, I'm sorry it bothers you. This is a business though. They ain't doing nothing to hurt that so I ain't making them move for you or no one." The surely barkeep said in an almost apologetic tone. "Maybe you should take a break.. Go somewhere else try something different if you don't like it. BUFFOVISION seems like a fine thing to me, so I am keeping it."
With a tear in her eye and her body beginning to shake from the emotion pouring into her demanding that she say something more, make this man understand her she simply nodded and walked away. As she pushed around the giant BUFFOVISION screen and made her way to the exit she couldn't help but see the sneering face of the young man from this morning. The look in his eyes saying more than any word. This is what you get. This is your fault.
The other entertainers played on in the background drowned out by the large speakers of the BUFFOVISION and the occasional shout from the patron of "Hey turn that damn music down, we can't hear the BUFFOVISION." Else on the other hand could not. Somewhere out there was an empty cantina where she could dance for one person or maybe a small group and bring to them a taste of big city entertainment. BUFFOVISION must be progress, you just can't fight progress.
Untitled by Else Whira
Else Whira loved to dance. Even before she had those breakout years as a sought after clothing designer and well before she graduated top of her class from the imperial medical academy she had been a dancer. It was the reflexes she had honed in dance that had caught the eye of the imperial drill instructor at the academy. One look at her movements was enough to have her transferred into his special Teras Kasi training program.
Doctor, tailor, Teras Kasi master, even the simple business of running a successful shop never came close to the joy of dance for Else. When the time came and her tour of duty ran out as a combat soldier and she could finally return to her life as normal citizen of the empire it seemed to Else that this was the perfect opportunity to return to her beloved dance.
She stepped off the shuttle in the Theed space port and took a deep breath of th fresh Nubian air. There on the wall of the space port was a number of posters displaying the various acts you could see performing in the famed Theed cantina. All the greats were there. Acts like Solar Flair, Krys Ter-Luceyn, Avadiha Soep, TEC and Hotte Hue. She could feel the excitement building. Here was a town built by artisans with an eye for beauty. The people were known throughout the galaxy as patrons of the arts. Specifically music and dance.
It did not take Else long to make a name for herself as a dancer. Where one entertainer would play one set she would play five. In the times when perhaps one person might wander by to hear the bands practice or do a sound check for a later performance, Else would make sure to get up on the stage and dance. The years spent honing her body in the Teras Kasi arts and her skills as a doctor gave her stamina that no Twi'lek dancing girl could match. She soon became known as the dancer to see during those off hour times when the headlining acts were not ready to perform.
Then her world was destroyed.
Else was doing a very seductive exotic dance. Not with the skill of a master dancer but nearly so. She still did not have the skill with healing and enhancing the mind the way an Avadiha or member of Solar Flair might but it was damn good to the untrained eye. A young warrior brazenly walked into the cantina. The air of invincibility and youth clung to his manner the way the symbol of the rebellion clung openly to his shirt sleeve. Behind Else on the stage several members of the headlining acts sat at their instruments idly chatting or tuning their instruments for an evening of play. At this time of day though there was no act but Else for a warrior to enjoy. The young man walked up to Else rudely pushing by her and blurted out over the house music, "I'm joining this band having you perform for me, now."
Taken aback Else tried calmly saying, "I'm sorry they aren't ready to play yet good sir. Perhaps if my skills are not great enough you could try the Corellian cantinas I hear they are bustling this time of day from other weary travelers."
His face flashed anger, "This band will do, I'm joining and they are playing."
"I'm sorry that's just not possible." Else said trying her hardest to be a peacemaker, "You'll have to try somewhere else for that service right now."
"We'll see." He said in a way that left Else's skin crawling. As he walked around the corner of the cantina exit Else could hear him contacting someone over his comm unit.
Several hours went by without much more happening. All in all a normal day by Theed cantina standards. Many people stopped in and saw her dance. The headlining acts even had Else stay and play between their own sets. Something that would do wonders for Else's career. The band struck up a wonderfully played Jazz and the dancers twirled gracefully the way only a master of the art can do. It was then that a large wookiee and several members of the rebellion walked in carrying a large crate. Else's stomach turned as she saw the young man from this morning's set.
With a loud clang the crate opened just in front of the stage. The big wookiee howled and pulled out a small remote from his cloak. With a series of clicks the contents of the crate came to life in a huge barrage of color and unavoidable sound. "DFR is proud to present, free 24 hour BUFFOVISION! Had a rough day in space? Need a little extra umph when you are in combat - Enjoy DFR's BUFFOVISION! Free 24 hour entertainment coming to you in the THEED CANTINA! No need tip this, no entertainer to deny you a show no snooty dancer to tell you that she can't enhance your mind from lack of skill. That was then, this is BUFFOVISION!" A series of badly done sit coms and poorly played songs with flashing lights played on the screen with badly choreographed dancers barely staying with the beat. Yet the soldiers who only moments earlier were watching every turn of a live dancer's body were now staring fixated at the screen.
Furious Else stormed up to the cantina manager a surely barkeep named ChrisO. "Are you going to let them put that there? They are doing it to interrupt our show on purpose."
The surly ChrisO looked over at Else and shrugged. "They aren't breaking any laws and the custom doesn't seem to mind."
"They are ruining our shows." Else said this time tears beginning to form at the corner of her eyes. "Please, can't you do something?" It was as if all of the long hours she had put into entertaining his customers long past the time he would regularly have custom were now totally forgotten.
"Look, I'm sorry it bothers you. This is a business though. They ain't doing nothing to hurt that so I ain't making them move for you or no one." The surely barkeep said in an almost apologetic tone. "Maybe you should take a break.. Go somewhere else try something different if you don't like it. BUFFOVISION seems like a fine thing to me, so I am keeping it."
With a tear in her eye and her body beginning to shake from the emotion pouring into her demanding that she say something more, make this man understand her she simply nodded and walked away. As she pushed around the giant BUFFOVISION screen and made her way to the exit she couldn't help but see the sneering face of the young man from this morning. The look in his eyes saying more than any word. This is what you get. This is your fault.
The other entertainers played on in the background drowned out by the large speakers of the BUFFOVISION and the occasional shout from the patron of "Hey turn that damn music down, we can't hear the BUFFOVISION." Else on the other hand could not. Somewhere out there was an empty cantina where she could dance for one person or maybe a small group and bring to them a taste of big city entertainment. BUFFOVISION must be progress, you just can't fight progress.
FuschiaD
Fri Dec 03, 2004 5:54 pm
#3
Gah. This is really getting to me. For those who are wondering, this little story is based on some of the actual happenings that went on last night on Tarquinas. As I've noticed seems to be the trend with many of the servers, the Theed cantina on Tarquinas is generally regarded as the 'live' cantina. We NEVER have to deal with buffbots there, and almost everyone is ATK. It makes it a much more pleasant place to chat and entertain. However, last night we had some really nasty occurrences, starting with Else's run-in with the leader of a large and well-known Rebel guild, and fulminating in my refusing to group a buffbot seeker and getting several VERY nasty threads started about me on the Tarquinas forums. It's not a pleasant place to be a live entertainer right now... and it makes me hesitate to log in. Else is a wonderful person, a new and very good friend of mine, and a recent recruit for our guild. And I hate it that she's having to deal with this so soon in her career as an entertainer.
Why. Why, why why isn't anything being done. We get reprimanded, to the point of being banned, if we group a buffbot. Yet we have these people playing, calling us horrid names like c*nt and b*tch and homo, and it's perfectly all right. The injustice of it makes me want to scream. Why the hell did the devs even bother to put in the entertainer professions? I'm rapidly approaching the point where I just wish they'd delete them.
psycocat
Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:50 pm
#4
I'd hate to see entertainers go.
But it would stop a lot of head aches...and lose a lot of customers.
Thanks for posting this.
I am appalled at the rudeness of some players.
Sakura-Ikari
Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:20 am
#5
5 stars - that was really well written
*hugs Else* dunno if you read the forums Else, or if you are going to be mad at your friend for posting this, but that was really well written. I know you only know me as Sakura your new (hopefully favorite) tailor - but my original toon is a dancer on Kauri who hasn't gone near theed cantina in probably over 6 months because of this kind of stuff.
*whispers* and, on another note, the rebel guild mentioned has been on my hubby's sh1t list for a LONG time... don't worry... we'll make them pay 
Message Edited by Sakura-Ikari on 12-04-2004 08:21 AM
FuschiaD
Sat Dec 04, 2004 4:25 pm
#6
I would just like to mention my off-topic and extreme offense that my own fellow guild member is not using me as her tailor. /cry
Dreamland
Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:41 pm
#7
It is the end for me at this time. I've seen enough. It's absolutely beyond pathetic what the developers have let happen to this game. Not just for the entertainer but in all aspects. From the hideously out of control economy, to the rediculousy unbalanced combat, to the rampant unatendedness.
What is the point of playing a gamewhere halfof the population does not even realy play? Where is the imersion in this game? Any that it had is gone. It just does not feel alive.
As of December 11 my subscribtion is up for renew and it won't be renewed. PerhapsI will check in sometime in the future, if this game is even still going at that point, to see if there has been any improvement.To be honest i don't hold out any hope that there will be.
So goodbye entertainer comunity. All the ent chat ents like Javier, Ub-ick, Kirah, Shailas, Drannon.the list goes on. You all made it a community in the face of totaly bleak odds, and complete developer apathy. Thank you for all the cantina crawls, starport jams, gypsy parties, and other events that made it worth playing for more than a year now.
I truly hope that sony eventualy gets it together and makes this a game people play again.
Reachwind
Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:11 am
#8
Follow up: I got my behind chewed out for posting this before she finished spell checking and all of that stuff (in fact I was supposed to do a lot of that for her).
I was also to pass along that she wants to make sure that all of her friends in the game don't look at this as an "I quit" post. She seems to think that this is a game still worth playing (no matter how hard I try to convince her otherwise.) From what I understand the buff bot was removed after their nasty little point was made that they can "shut down" the cantina whenever they want with the full backing of SoE staff.
That would have been enough for me to see that this game could not be saved but she still thinks that people are what the make game work and as long as people want her there she intends to be there. Whatever.
I was also to pass along that she wants to make sure that all of her friends in the game don't look at this as an "I quit" post. She seems to think that this is a game still worth playing (no matter how hard I try to convince her otherwise.) From what I understand the buff bot was removed after their nasty little point was made that they can "shut down" the cantina whenever they want with the full backing of SoE staff.
That would have been enough for me to see that this game could not be saved but she still thinks that people are what the make game work and as long as people want her there she intends to be there. Whatever.
kirah_ashlin
Sun Dec 05, 2004 6:34 am
#9
Dreamland wrote:
It is the end for me at this time. I've seen enough. It's absolutely beyond pathetic what the developers have let happen to this game. Not just for the entertainer but in all aspects. From the hideously out of control economy, to the rediculousy unbalanced combat, to the rampant unatendedness.
What is the point of playing a gamewhere halfof the population does not even realy play? Where is the imersion in this game? Any that it had is gone. It just does not feel alive.
As of December 11 my subscribtion is up for renew and it won't be renewed. PerhapsI will check in sometime in the future, if this game is even still going at that point, to see if there has been any improvement.To be honest i don't hold out any hope that there will be.
So goodbye entertainer comunity. All the ent chat ents like Javier, Ub-ick, Kirah, Shailas, Drannon.the list goes on. You all made it a community in the face of totaly bleak odds, and complete developer apathy. Thank you for all the cantina crawls, starport jams, gypsy parties, and other events that made it worth playing for more than a year now.
I truly hope that sony eventualy gets it together and makes this a game people play again.
FuschiaD
Sun Dec 05, 2004 7:57 am
#10
Reachwind wrote:
Follow up: I got my behind chewed out for posting this before she finished spell checking and all of that stuff (in fact I was supposed to do a lot of that for her).
I was also to pass along that she wants to make sure that all of her friends in the game don't look at this as an "I quit" post. She seems to think that this is a game still worth playing (no matter how hard I try to convince her otherwise.) From what I understand the buff bot was removed after their nasty little point was made that they can "shut down" the cantina whenever they want with the full backing of SoE staff.
That would have been enough for me to see that this game could not be saved but she still thinks that people are what the make game work and as long as people want her there she intends to be there. Whatever.
If she still wants to play, you can't make that choice for her. And the truth is, happenings like this on Tarquinas are few and far between. I think it must have been a full moon on our server that night.
CristineA
Sun Dec 05, 2004 10:20 am
#11
They are on many other peoples lists as well.
Sakura-Ikari wrote:
*whispers* and, on another note, the rebel guild mentioned has been on my hubby's sh1t list for a LONG time... don't worry... we'll make them pay
CristineA
Sun Dec 05, 2004 10:23 am
#12
I have had the pleasure of meeting and although breafly talking with Else, she does have a very good attitude toward the professon and to the game in general, but to have that moron (sorry but had to say it, and it's true) guild pull something like that isn't right, I know that guild pulls underhanded things, but this I never though I'd see from them, it's no ownder ppl on Tarq love to hate the guild.
Sakura-Ikari
Sun Dec 05, 2004 11:31 am
#13
FuschiaD wrote:
I would just like to mention my off-topic and extreme offense that my own fellow guild member is not using me as her tailor. /cry
Avadiha silly - you asked me to make clothes for her remember - "make her a bumblebee outfit" *giggle*
but i absolutely don't want to step on any toes if you want to be the sole costumier of Miss Else by all means I won't pop my droid out in Theed again! *hugs*
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