#Opera Stuff

[spacenerdmuc]

Don Giovanni casually doing a backflip before his aria? Absolutely!

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Accountability posting

Worked scene 6 and 7 today - just the finale of act 1 left and I'll have sung through the whole thing! (We're not talking about act 2 yet shush)

Feeling good! My vocal stamina needs some work, but I'm working it daily and hopefully it'll be right as rain by fall. Y'know. Hopefully.

[tearlessrain]

please help me- i used to be pretty smart but i’m having so much trouble grasping the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic bdsm!

gfkjldghfd okay first of all I'm sorry for the confusion, if you're not finding anything on the phrase it's because I made it up and absolutely nobody but me ever uses it, but I haven't found a better way to express what I'm trying to say so I keep using it. but now you've given me an excuse to ramble on about some shit that is only relevant to me and my deeply inefficient way of talking and by god I'm going to take it.

SO. the way diegetic and non-diegetic are normally used is to talk about music and sound design in movies/tv shows. in case you aren't familiar with that concept, here's a rundown:

diegetic sound is sound that happens within the world of the movie/show and can be acknowledged by the characters, like a song playing on the stereo during a driving scene, or sung on stage in Phantom of the Opera. it's also most other sounds that happen in a movie, like the sounds of traffic in a city scene, or a thunderclap, or a marching band passing by. or one of the three stock horse sounds they use in every movie with a horse in it even though horses don't really vocalize much in real life, but that's beside the point, the horse is supposed to be actually making that noise within the movie's world and the characters can hear it whinnying.

non-diegetic sound is any sound that doesn't exist in the world of the movie/show and can't be perceived by the characters. this includes things like laugh tracks and most soundtrack music. when Duel of Fates plays in Star Wars during the lightsaber fight for dramatic effect, that's non-diegetic. it exists to the audience, but the characters don't know their fight is being backed by sick ass music and, sadly, can't hear it.

the lines can get blurry between the two, you've probably seen the film trope where the clearly non-diegetic music in the title sequence fades out to the same music, now diegetic and playing from the character's car stereo. and then there are things like Phantom of the Opera as mentioned above, where the soundtrack is also part of the plot, but Phantom of the Opera does also have segments of non-diegetic music: the Phantom probably does not have an entire orchestra and some guy with an electric guitar hiding down in his sewer just waiting for someone to break into song, but both of those show up in the songs they sing down there.

now, on to how I apply this to bdsm in fiction.

if I'm referring to diegetic bdsm what I mean is that the bdsm is acknowledged for what it is in-world. the characters themselves are roleplaying whatever scenarios their scenes involve and are operating with knowledge of real life rules/safety practices. if there's cnc depicted, it will be apparent at some point, usually right away, that both characters actually are fully consenting and it's all just a planned scene, and you'll often see on-screen negotiation and aftercare, and elements of the story may involve the kink community wherever the characters are. Love and Leashes is a great example of this, 50 Shades and Bonding are terrible examples of this, but they all feature characters that know they're doing bdsm and are intentional about it.

if I'm talking about non-diegetic bdsm, I'm referring to a story that portrays certain kinks without the direct acknowledgement that the characters are doing bdsm. this would be something like Captive Prince, or Phantom of the Opera again, or the vast majority of bodice ripper type stories where an innocent woman is kidnapped by a pirate king or something and totally doesn't want to be ravished but then it turns out he's so cool and sexy and good at ravishing that she decides she's into it and becomes his pirate consort or whatever it is that happens at the end of those books. the characters don't know they're playing out a cnc or D/s fantasy, and in-universe it's often straight up noncon or dubcon rather than cnc at all. the thing about entirely non-diegetic bdsm is that it's almost always Problematic™ in some way if you're not willing to meet the story where it's at, but as long as you're not judging it by the standards of diegetic bdsm, it's just providing the reader the same thing that a partner in a scene would: the illusion of whatever risk or taboo floats your boat, sometimes to extremes that can't be replicated in real life due to safety, practicality, physics, the law, vampires not being real, etc. it's consensual by default because it's already pretend; the characters are vehicles for the story and not actually people who can be hurt, and the reader chose to pick up the book and is aware that nothing in it is real, so it's all good.

this difference is where people tend to get hung up in the discourse, from what I've observed. which is why I started using this phrasing, because I think it's very crucial to be able to differentiate which one you're talking about if you try to have a conversation with someone about the portrayal of bdsm in media. it would also, frankly, be useful for tagging, because sometimes when you're in the mood for non-diegetic bodice ripper shit you'd call the police over in real life, it can get really annoying to read paragraphs of negotiation and check-ins that break the illusion of the scene and so on, and the opposite can be jarring too.

it's very possible to blur these together the same way Phantom of the Opera blurs its diegetic and non-diegetic music as well. this leaves you even more open to being misunderstood by people reading in bad faith, but it can also be really fun to play with. @not-poignant writes fantastic fanfic, novels, and original serials on ao3 that pull this off really well, if you're okay with some dark shit in your fiction I would highly recommend their work. some of it does get really fucking dark in places though, just like. be advised. read the tags and all that.

but yeah, spontaneous writer plug aside, that's what I mean.

[draconym]

puppet karaoke is perhaps the best idea I've ever had

[galactic-rhea]

Ah yes, the "evil" family.

I thought it would be even more funny if it was Luke, of all people, the one who wanted to watch Bloodbath in the Black Moon of the Dragon System.

First || Next

[anna-matopoeia]

Come to me...

[countfagulathe69th]

He’s doing the Roblox wave

[cooking-with-hailstones]

Accountability posting

Turn of the screw blogging day 3:

I think I'm coming down with a cold so I decided to guard my voice and not sing today, but I did hum along to the recording of act 1 as I drove home from work. I think my brain is starting to grok scenes 1, 2, and 3.

This is the recording I've been listening to so far, but I'm gonna change it up soon (it's never good to listen to the same recording too many times since then you start internalizing their stylistic gestures and it's always best to make your own)

I quite like this recording. I'm very impressed with the children, they're very good singers and even in audio only, they bring such richness to their characters. The Peter Quint is also amazing, he captures the quiet malice and arrogant capriciousness of the character in a really stunning way.

I cannot say I'm super impressed with any of the ladies. The Governess is ok, but I'm listening to this to learn my part and she's got a lot of weird pitchiness that might not stand out to others, but it does to me. Mrs Grose is decent, she's got some good character coming through, but doesn't stand out like the kids or Quint do. I don't care for the Miss Jessel much if I'm honest. She sounds like she's singing the notes she's supposed to sing and there's not much personality beyond that.

[opera-ghost]

really wanted to visualize that scene in the novel where after erik has kidnapped christine and he’s just deposited her in his living room five stories underground– she’s super disoriented after having passed out on account of being, you know, kidnapped– and this beanpole of a man is in the center of the room posted up like the grim reaper in a scream mask, and he deadass looks at her and says, in the same voice as the “angel” that’s been giving her singing lessons in her dressing room for the past 3 months, “don’t be afraid, christine. you are in no danger.”

[partial-prints]

If you love vampires, listen up!

Do you enjoy vampires, 80’s music, a healthy dose of homoeroticism - all with a theatrical flair? Well look no further, for I submit to you Dance of the Vampires.

(More cool pictures at the very bottom)

What is it you may ask? It’s a musical about a vampire who seduces a girl and invites her to his midnight ball - an offer she simply cannot turn down. The whole thing sorta gives Phantom of the Opera vibes, but like, wayyy less creepy (despite it being a literal vampire). I will say now that yes, Tanz der Vampire (the original title of Dance of the Vampires), is in German, but there is a full recording with English subtitles on youtube, so please don’t let that prevent you from watching it. Now if you’re still reading, allow me to elaborate on the 80’s music and homoeroticism that I previously mentioned.

Let’s start with the tragic gay romance, because I’m sure that’s what you want to hear about first. While not a main part of the musical, the main vampire’s son falls in love with - gasp! - the vampire hunter’s apprentice. They dance together, and with stage magic involving a mesh screen and an actor on the other side dressed identically to the apprentice, it appears as though the vampire has no reflection in the “mirror”. Of course, the feeling is not mutual, as the apprentice is only at the castle to rescue the girl, who he is in love with.

Now, onto the 80’s music. Surely you’ve heard of the song Total Eclipse of the Heart, or the singer Meatloaf (even if it was just his role as Eddie in Rocky Horror Picture Show). Well, the man who wrote that song and a majority if not all of Meatloaf’s work, was Jim Steinman, who composed the musical. The soundtrack contains a decent amount of electric guitar, even a bit of synth at parts, and all around just sounds awesome. However, he only had about a month and a half to compose it all, so he reused some stuff he previously wrote, including a couple Meatloaf songs and Total Eclipse of the Heart, a song he originally wrote for a Nosferatu musical that ended up not getting produced. It was actually originally titled “Vampires in Love,” so what better song is there to fill the place of a big love duet between the girl and the Count?

Tanz der Vampire is my favorite musical ever. I’ve loved it ever since Count von Krolock appeared on the screen and first began to sing, and you may love it too. So I implore you. Please do yourself a favor and check it out. I’ll provide a link of a full recording with English subtitles here, but it should also be the first result on youtube when you search “tanz der vampire english subtitles.” (That production also has Drew Sarich as the Count, my personal favorite.) I should add though, do not watch the broadway production because it’s terrible.

If you’re still not sold, I’m not sure what else I could say to convince you, but hopefully you at least found this interesting and learned something new. If you want to know more about Tanz der Vampire or would like to hear about other musicals about vampires, please let me know and I can answer any questions. (If even one person watches it because of this I’ll consider this a success, and if you do watch it please let me know because it would really make my day.)

And now I’ll leave you with some pictures of Tanz der Vampire as a last resort to convince you how awesome it is and that you should watch it. (I also put in the alt text the song each picture is from for anyone interested)

*ooo the set design and costuming have hypnotized you… you want to watch it now… do it for the vampires…*

[strawberryteabunny]

coord + brooch assortment to see the season preview at the Opera

OP: Le Flacon

Underdress: Victorian Maiden

Cardigan: Amavel

Brooches- Lily of the Valley is from eBay, bunny is from Sugar Bunny Shop. The others are vintage

Headdress is BTSSB (with added flower clips) and tights/shoes are offbrand

[dill-weeds]

ITS DONE!!! au idea from my friend (@corvidelft on twitter) =w=

[ruvyn29]

Idk some dudes who like hats

[asmodeusamaryllis]

[flushwithdarlings]

Honestly I would love to know more about Caterina Dellamorte and what she was like when she was a much younger active assassin and not yet First Talon, but also what she was like as First Talon before her family was nigh wiped out. Like, who killed House Velardo in retaliation for what they did? Did she strike at them with the Dellamorte's cuchillo houses? Or maybe wage a one woman war of revenge until they were wiped off Antiva?

She has such a fearsome reputation amongst the other Talons and, even though her house is tiny, has still managed to hold onto the Dellamorte's position at the top. Granted, House Dellamorte probably has some of the best cuchillos below them as well as Lucanis' reputation.

I think a deeper exploration of her mind and motivations would be interesting, and if you know that, then you also gain a deeper insight into Lucanis and Illario.