Day 12-What do people do for entertainment around here?
"I am going to define entertainment as, 'the act of providing or being provided with something that causes amusement or enjoyment'. The latter, being provided with amusement or enjoyment, will be the focus here.
Acting in a play is something you can do but watching a play is entertainment. Does that make sense to everyone? Excellent. Let's continue..."
Music
Music on Cheron wasn't for entertainment. It was functional, a tool like everything else. Military Marches to intimidate one group and elevate another abive them. Sorrowful spirituals devoid of religious significance to remember who we were, what we'd lost, and when revolution would come.
The music of the myriad cultures of the UFP are something completely different. It's artwork you listen to. It's a language that speaks to the heart, the mind, and 'the soul'. I don't fully understand that last one but when I hear certain music, I kind of do.
If you get the chance, attend a concert by The Federation Philharmonic Orchestra. Made up of talented musicians from all over the UFP, the FPO has formed one of the greatest symphony ensembles in the galaxy! They play music that has stood the test of time from numerous cultures, with a strong focus on Earth Classical, Vulcan Classical, and Andorian Opera. The FPO has played at Starbase 25 on a few very special occasions and will hopefully be returning for Federation Day this year.
Starbase 25, Deep Space 4, and Deep Space Station K-12 have rotating concerts and live performances from a vast array of musicians and singers on a regular basis. Most of these talented artists are from worlds within the Federation. The entertainment ranges across all genres, from 'Andorian Blues' and Tellarite Slop Jazz to Human Folk Rock and Vulcan Serialism.
As far as local music goes, I haven't had the opportunity to experience any of it just yet. I'm really curious as to what Mazzulan and Uthaden music sound might like. The Mazzulans have a deeply spiritual culture and the Uthaden have such interesting and unusual anatomy that I imagine they'd both create spectacularly different sorts of pieces.
Sports
Probably the most popular sport in the UFP at present, Grav-Ball is a fast paced, kinetic, and often very rough game played by two teams of 6 players wearing protective suits in a Zero-G stadium or arena. The objective is to get a metal ball the size of a large Earth orange (a type of fruit) into a goal located at the opposite side of the stadium's 'field' from your team's entry point.
Specialized ectro-magnets in the players armored gloves allow them to catch and throw the grav-ball, which accelerates to dangerous speeds. Injuries are common even with the participants' armored uniforms.
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Professional games are televised across the core worlds of the Federation and eventually make it out to the frontier sectors via subspace relay. It can take weeks or even months to receive these recorded broadcasts. Captain Anne Fletcher is an avid fan of the sport and even plays it herself when she gets the chance.
A vast number of other popular sports exist but few are recorded and broadcast to the degree of Grav-Ball. A lot of them are only televised planet-wide, system-wide, or on a particular set of worlds.
Locally, the large Andorian contingent means the sport of Ice Hockey is extremely common and popular out here. Once exclusive to Earth, the Andorians have strongly embraced the game, which incidentally resembles a similar 'Coming of Age' rite of passage from Andor's past.
Theater
Stage plays are an artform I was only generally familiar with prior to joining Starfleet. We had them on Cheron but I never saw one as a child. As I understand it, our theater was very different from the vast diversity of types one can encounter in the Federation and beyond.
Earth has a rich history of theater dating back hundreds and hundreds of years and many of the plays are still performed today. Their playwright and poet William Shakespeare, who wrote 39 plays, over 150 sonnets, and 3 long form, narrative poems, is considered one of the greatest theatrical authors of all time and his works are quoted to this day.
At the same time, this only scratches the surface of what the Humans have produced: Comedies, Tragedies, Musical Theater, Puppetry, and the list goes on and on.
As far as other species closer to our current location, the Deltans have numerous Romantic Ballad Poems often performed as if they were plays. The Rhaandarites have a rather unique form of theater where two actors essentially have a philosophical debate, including soliciting audience participation, that weaves into a narrative. Really interesting to watch.
My personal favorite is specific type of play invented by the Aaamazzarites. Known as 'Breaking' or 'Broken' Life Plays, the Aaamazzarites use numerous props throughout the story that they form from the foam-like wax they can generate from their own bodies. Each prop represents something in the narrative - a relationship, time, poor choices, and the like. As the play goes on, each item is basically destroyed due to carelessness, anger, hubris, etc., and reinforces the theme of how fragile life and all its elements can be.
If you go see one, make sure there are Aaamazzarites in the audience. They add so much to the experience! They know the items are going to be broken, that's the point afterall, but they sit on the edges of their seats in tense anticipation. When a vase is dropped or a table shatters, they wince and shake their heads, feeling the loss of both object and metafore.
AD
Barking Alien
Sorry for the delay and yet a fitting post for yesterday, February 12th, was my birthday. I am officially...older. Strange how that happens. Your linear concept of time confuses me.
Fascinating 🖖🏼 This is a really immersive and inspirational read, but how much of this (bar the sport, I suspect) actually plays a central role in your games? Is this purely background colour or have you, say, had player-characters go out of their way to hear the FPO play or see a "Broken Life" play?
ReplyDeleteFor the most part this is all background color, usually inserted into the game via PC/NPC dialogue. For example, as the PCs come on duty one of the supporting NPCs might say, "Good morning Commander. Were you able to attend the piano recital last night? I thought Lt. Patterson was excellent!"
DeleteThe PC will likely respond to either emblish the reference, "Agreed. His rendition of Beethoven's Sonata No.14 was particularly enchanting", or to redirect attention to something else the player/PC is interested in, "I'm sorry Ensign, I couldn't make it. I've been trying to analyze all the data we received from scanning the Ryton Nebula. I was awake into the wee hours trying to get it all sorted."
Hearing this I, as GM, will reveal one or more pieces of information about the nebula without the player needing to roll. After all, he was up all night reading about it!
There have been times however when PCs have searched out this sort of thing. I mentioned in the post for DAY 6 that Deep Space Station K-12 has an Art Gallery and Art Classes are available for interested parties. This actually came up in game when the group took Shore Leave on the station and planet below.
Our Andorian First Officer/Chief Engineer Commander Bhoth isn't particularly good at R & R but the Captain ordered him to take time off and enjoy himself. Unsure of what to do with himself, he wandered through the Art Gallery, saw a piece by Solonor of Vulcan, a renowned artist who also happens to be the father of our former First Officer, Commander Solok. Bhoth was so moved he took an Art Class but it did not go well. He simply couldn't express himself through the clay they were using and while frustrated offended the Female Tellarite teaching the lesson. He was asked to leave. Poor Mr. Bhoth. lol
Clearly you are not just an incredibly inventive gamesmaster but are gifted with a troupe of players who really buy into the universe you have created (or shaped to your design in this case). I envy you 😉
DeleteI am pretty lucky in that regard yes. It took a while. Early on, as most of the players were more accustomed to old school D&D type games, only one or two really dove deep into their characters or the universe. As time went on this changed considerably, to the point where I can get away with what I do today. lol
DeleteThat's the sort of transformation I'd like to see at our table, but I fear I might be a tad late in that department. Most are very set in their old school ways 😂
DeleteI very much regret not purchasing a copy of FASA's Grav Ball in my local hobby shop back in the day. I managed to get Combots, though. Combots might be more appropriate for Star Wars, I think.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love every single post in this series.
Thanks Gordon that means a lot.
DeleteAlso, Combots as a Star Wars Droids thing...it could work.