#ToD foreshadowing?

[acourtofquestions]

EoS Chapter 58:

spoilers below the “more” line of safety

— “Kaltain Rompier had just turned the tide of the war.” — THANK👏YOU👏 (she deserved this line🥹)

— “Lady Elide of Perranth” 😍 — they had all survived🥹

— “The queen was now flanked by Lady Elide, Manon on the dark-haired girl's other side, Lysandra sprawled in ghost leopard form at the queen's feet. The power in that cluster alone was staggering. And Elide ... Manon had murmured something to Aelin on their walk back into the ruins about Elide being watched over by Anneith. Watched over, as the rest of them seemed to be by other gods.” — QUEENS (and yes the whole watched thing is getting fishy)

— “Scions-each of them touched by a different god, each of them subtly, quietly, guided here. It wasn't a coincidence. It couldn't be.” — but I wish it was 😅😭

— "I have a bad feeling about this." — yeah me too especially now that you said that (though props to Manon for not only reading him well but checking on him🥹

— IS IT A DEAD TROVE??? — this is giving “nameless is my price vibes” with the “past present future & sister glass” vibes (or the Feyre “face the true monster” one) and I’m scared

— TOWERS? Like… of Dawn?😂 … hmm

— they are all too tired, she DID find a drain to the power, and I’m just worried😅

— guys stop shaming her for a “lack of” war experience GIRL WAS AN ASSASSIN SHE KNOWS A THING OR TWO

— "You're not taking Elide anywhere. Not now, and not ever." Lorcan rose to his full height. And before they could wreck everything with their brawling, Elide laid a delicate hand on Lorcan's arm--his own hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword. "I choose this, Manon." — I love big sis Manon (just also respect Elide please)

— NO ITS NOT THE MATRON IS IT? (I can’t if it is)

— ITS GONNA BE ANSEL ISN’T IT?! PLEASE

— QUEEN of the wastes

— wait okay I haven’t read CC but isn’t Bryce described as having wine red hair??? (just curious cause it’s so specific… just a thought🤷‍♀️😁)?

Time to go full circle, can’t wait for the next chapter!

[cogneartive]

[gwynethberdarasupremecy]

Why e/riel doesn’t work. This post isn’t about why the characters don’t fit together based on traits. That’s a whole separate story. But e/riel doesn’t work out, simply from a writing perspective.

The only way I could’ve seen e/riel work out is if at the end of ACOSF, Elain is already with Lucien, trying to do what “society expects of her” but there’s foreshadowing that she’s not happy. That way, e/riel would bring growth. Something would change. Imagine e/riel is endgame. At the beginning of Elains book, she is not giving Lucien any chance or attention. She is actively rejecting him. She is also already into Azriel. Nobody is pressuring her to be with Lucien, including Lucien himself.

So we have to ask ourselves: what would change? What growth would it bring her? In stories, and especially SJMs love stories, characters start with wanting A, only to go through this inner journey and realizing that they actually wanted/needed B. Feyre started acomaf with wanting Tamlin, only to later realize she wanted and needed Rhys. Nesta started her book with not wanting anyone, only to later realize she wanted and needed Cassian. Chaol started TOD with wanting Nesryn, only to later realize he needed Yrene. Aelin started HOF with wanting Chaol, only to later realize she wanted and needed Rowan, etc. They all follow the same storytelling pattern. They all started wanting A, and at the end of their stories wanting B. Because that’s what makes a compelling story.

If e/riel happened, it would start with both characters wanting A, and ending with A. Nothing would change. No character growth. No change of paths. No inner journey. If Sarah wanted to go the e/riel route, the only way she could’ve made it work, is if she had Elain accept Lucien. That way her story would start with her thinking she wanted A, and then getting B. The fact that SJM didn’t do this, tells me that she doesn’t intend for e/riel to be endgame.

Now, if you follow this pattern of characters starting with wanting A, and ending up realizing they actually wanted/needed B, the only logical pairings would be Elucien and Gwynriel.

[mwesrik]

Also auf Gefahr hin jetzt wie so nen Verschwörungstheoretiker zu klingen: Aber die haben uns doch extra wenig Hörk diese Folge gegeben um nächste Folge so richtig loslegen zu können, oder?

Also natürlich auch um den beiden Frauen endlich mal das Spotlight zu geben. Und wow! war das geil! Also wirklich eine so gute Leistung von den Schauspielerinnen und ich liebe Pesther wirklich so sehr!

Aber das ist doch jetzt genauso DAS Setup für Adam um zu realisieren, dass er für Leo zurückgekommen ist. Der ganze Talk über das Nachdenken über den Tod und mit welchen Menschen man sich umgibt war doch locker foreshadowing.

Er hat übel scheiße gebaut mit Pia. Und muss sich jetzt mit dem Gedanken anfreunden, dass er Leo vielleicht auch verliert. Leo ist vll. im Koma oder auf jeden Fall nicht auf der Arbeit. Und Adam wird klar, wie sehr er ihn wirklich braucht.

Dann kommt Leo aus dem Krankenhaus muss genesen und alles erst mal verarbeiten. Und dann kann Adam für IHN da sein und wir bekommen endlich Leo backstory.

[crazy-ache]

It's very, very interesting to me....

Tower of Dawn (September 5, 2017) and A Court of War and Ruin (May 2, 2017) were released in the same year, only months apart. So I don't think it's far-fetched to believe that there was an overlap in writing, plotting, and planning these books. When you really think about it, you can see many parallels that likely influenced each other.

Specifically Chaol/Yrene and Elain/Lucien.

Both books bring to light:

A soft FMC that does not want to be a warrior or wield a sword

A MMC that is dealing with feelings of guilt and worthlessness

"The world needs more healers." / "I think the world needs more gardens. "

Yrene's healing is a form of light / Lucien's parentage to the Day Court HL

A MMC that has been dealing with issues behind the scenes, separate from the main cast, but that significant work is revealed at a later time

FMCs that are living in a place they call home but aren't truly home

FMCs that try to avoid/maintain distance from the MMC due to prejudices in their heart that are related to the MMC but not directly caused by them (Chaol's identity vs Lucien's bond)

Both encompass a love story that is filled with tension, healing, and growth from both the male and female

And what I also take away from this...

SJM surprised her readers with ToD. Chaol was not mentioned at all in Empire of Storms, but she had always planned to bring him back into the story.

Could this have influenced the way she wrote Elucien in ACOWAR? I think so. She has put their relationship/development on the back burner since that book. There are clear parallels between the two ships, and I wouldn't be surprised if Chaolrene foreshadows a similar path for Elucien.

In terms of what their book will be like....but also how their book will come to be...

Meaning that just because Elain/Lucien were largely missing from ACOSF/HOFAS, she is likely taking her inspiration from ToD (which she was writing when she was in peak Elucien mode in ACOWAR)...and has been intentionally planning the timing of their story.

And just like she did with Chaol/Yrene, she'll pull them back into the story when you least expect it. After everything with Nesta/Az/Crossover....I think this means in this next book.

[starsreminisce]

I will preface this by saying I still do not give two shits whose book is next. But if we are looking at the plot threads that need to be addressed, I still believe Elucien's book is next, based on four key points.

The Trove is the bridge between ACOTAR and CC. In fact, we learned more about the Mask than we did about Truth-Teller.

Nesta and Elain still have not made up since their argument about finding the Trove.

There is nothing Elain could gain from Gwyn and Azriel getting together that she would not have already learned from her sisters' mating bonds, especially when she already has a mating bond of her own. If anything, the climax of ACOSF would have proven to Elain that ignoring the bond, for whatever reason, would not change the fact that she is mated to Lucien.

The final chapters of ACOSF already foreshadow what is next, with HOFAS reinforcing it. ACOSF ends with Cassian circling back to his observations about Beron's treatment of Eris and how it extended to Lucien. Nesta, in turn, places the rose marker from the HoW on their father's headstone in a flower field as she looks up to her mate. Then in HOFAS, Rhys and Nesta are shown to be disconnected about who actually owns the Trove, while Elain and Lucien remain notably absent.

The whole debate about who is suffering more, who is more or less developed, or who needs to do xyz is irrelevant when that is the entire purpose of the book itself. If we follow ToG's structure, Elide was introduced in HoF, played a major role in Manon's storyline, and then got a POV in EoS. Similarly, Yrene was introduced in AB before getting a POV in ToD. Both Elide and Yrene were not at their "lowest point" when they got their POV, but both were at a point where they needed to do something more to break their current status quo.

Elain and Lucien being absent from Bryce's arrival actually suggests an EoS/ToD setup, just like how Chaol was absent while Aelin and Dorian were gathering allies, only for him and Yrene to be the one to uncover the Valg's connection to their world.

Does CC/HOFAS set up the next ACOTAR book? Yes. In CC, we learned the Daglan and Asteri were the same beings and that their tools and influence still linger in Prythian. ACOSF also tells us, through Cassian, that a rejected mating bond is still felt even after death, only for HOFAS to reinforce just how deeply it affects the mates left behind.

I say all of this to explain why I believe Elucien's book is next. This is based on my reading of canon and how SJM structures her stories across her series. That does not mean I am diminishing Gwyn or Azriel's storylines or development.

But it is jarring that both Gwyn and Elain were healing from their own traumatic event, yet Gwyn was able to achieve her goal of stepping out of the library and becoming stronger in honor of her sister, while Elain was not only told to stay home but actively surveilled to ensure she did.

It is also telling that twice now, Azriel has fundamentally misunderstood the mating bond, first when he claimed Lucien was undeserving of his mate and second when he learned mates exist in Bryce's world and the possibility that his mate could be in another world entirely.

If we boil SJM's series down to just her mating bond lore, just like how everyone in TOG ended up cosmically paired, Azriel stands to gain a lot from witnessing through Lucien that a mate can be someone you have only just met and through Elain that accepting the bond is simply a matter of timing.

Meanwhile, what else can Elain do when the IC still did not even bother to bring her in to meet Bryce, just as they left her out of the discussion about finding the things left behind by Bryce's overlords?

That is where SJM always starts her stories.

The next book is going to bridge ACOTAR to CC, and it makes more sense to tell it through the POV of a couple who was not a part of it, especially when she can tease it to get people to buy the previous series. Not to mention, she has already established a vague connection by having Helion, Lucien's father, react to the mask and having Nesta feel vindicated in her decision to not let Elain near it.

[luthielion]

As I'm currently still on the train from the Netherlands and bored out of my mind, time to post my take-aways and opinions on the dutch production of Elisabeth for everyone who would like to read it.

Under the "see more" thingy I'll post my pros and cons and my interpretations and personal opinions on the interpretations of the characters so everyone who wants to go in unbiased can do that.

pros:

obviously Pia as Elisabeth was absolutely phenomenal, Pia Douwes the woman you are

Danique Dusèe as the young Elisabeth really blew me away, the way her Elisabeth was both so young, playful and naive but at the same time had very soon a certain melancholy about her and you could really see the effect all of her interactions with Tod but also the effects the way of life at court had on her

Generally the way they handled Elisabeth as a character was one of the things that impressed me most about this production. I don't know if any other production has done it that way but the way they portrayed especially the manifestation of her mental illness through substance abuse which, while I don't think that this is actually historically accurate, correct me if I'm wrong, just emphasises this aspect even more than I feel like most productions do.

In the light of the topic of substance abuse I especially liked that during 'Mama Wo Bist Du' we actually have Elisabeth almost watching it, in the sense that it is an opiod induced hallucination of her son calling out for her and Tod intervening which also gives us and her this terrible sense of foreboding when Tod and Rudolf exit the stage together

Then obviously as a very important moment in terms of Elisabeths mental illness you have 'Irrenhaus' which in this production is for the most part set on a mix of fence and prison bars and by on I mean both the woman believing she is Eliabeth and Elisabeth herself climb this fence and the entire rest of the scene takes place there. What struck me about it was this very real cage-like feeling while Elisabeth is singing about freedom and feeling imprisoned which is only amplified by her actually sticking her head through the bars while climbing (it also looked scary cause you could see it kind of swing a bit back and force but that is not important right now)

during the duet between Elisabeth and Franz Josef Lucheni slowdances in the background, together with a lifesize bodypillow

the costumes were amazing, from Ensemble to Elisabeth

the narrator in the beginning is not as usual a voice with no person attached to it, but rather the whole Ensemble dressed in what later turns out to be painters clothes

The Ensemble is mostly wearing the same costume for most of the musical which paints them as kind of outside the story, almost a reflection of the audience themselves and acting out the story Lucheni is telling from a rather contempory lense. 'Schönheitspflege' for example is more angry rather than the usual obedient servant. They are also painting a lot of the time and their painting are revealed to be only black while Elisabeth dies which is something I still haven't figured out exactly.

'Milch' also ends in a sort of riot in which the paintings of Elisabeth all around the walls are splattered with deep red paint which makes it look like they are smeared with blood, both a statement about the contents of the scene and also a sort of dark foreshadowing of thing to come.

speaking of riots, they also made rudolf not just a spectator of 'Hass' but rather actively the main victim and the speaking character, a choice that on one hand perfectly compliments the staging the next scene and adds to the actual portrayal of Rudolfs reasons to commiting suicide on the other hand, making him an actual victim feels sort of wrong because it never really was the rich and influential non-jewish people who were the first victims of the Nazis/ hypernationalistic people.

con:

one of the main issues I have is the decision to rapidly reduce the homoeritic tension between Rudolf and Tod. For me the dynamic just fell very flat, especially due to the very very limited physical contact between them, no mayerling kiss or attempts at them anywhere, and the fact that they're never really alone. And while it is a very interesting concept to also depict Elisabeth and Lucheni having a breakdown in the background of Schatten it just detracts from the effect the scene is in my opinion supposed to have, the portrayal of the isolation of Rudolf and how Tod and thus death seem like the only way out for him.

In general Rudolf is the one I have the most issues with, as his entire arc just really falls short in favour of his mother. While I do think that 'Mama Wo Bist Du' was actually good like this, Tods almost sole focus on Elisabeth, going so far as to walk over to her during Schatten just made his despair and suicidality feel like it didn't matter to the show which it very much does. It felt more like Tod was orchestrating all of it to spite and hurt Elisabeth and not as an effect of Rudolfs struggles, thus making him a pawn in Tod and Elisabeths relationship rather than a person in his own right.

The last is the very static choreography, there just was not enough movement in my opinion.

Tod-Elisabeth Dynamic:

It seems to be intended as a very abusive relationship and it truly excels at it through a lot of different things and aspects. Firstly the substance abuse, which is very much through the influence of Tod, as he is the one who first forces her to smoke. Later she smokes more or less of her own volition but still only in scenes which feature Tod. The opium which leads to the hallucination is also offered by death. One of the many cases of abusive ralationships is the abusive partner getting the other hooked on substances and while only the smoking is explicitly shown, the opium is heavily implied. And while in all productions I've seen, Tod, after being rejected, only turns up again when he sees the golden opportunity in FJ cheating, in this production he keeps turning up and Elisabeth keeps accepting it and doesn’t really reject him, on the contrary, they even get incredibly close.Tod is especially in the beginning very controlling, literally as he manipulates Elisabeth like a string puppet without even touching her. All of it is incredibly possessive and he really seems to enjoy being so in control of her, going so far as to making her sink to the ground, seemingly dead.

To recap, an incredible production with fascinating choices having been made, but not without flaws.

[razorblade180]

Streamer AU 5

Streamer au 4 <-

The “Please wait” screen with falling snowflakes faded away to display Weiss in a light blue hoodie looking mighty cozy in her chair as she sipped coffee.

Weiss:Sup chat. It’s been awhile. Slaying grimm is hard sometimes.

Red Reaper: “Did your partner die?”

Weiss:Ruby, shut up and get in the call.

“Nah I’m eating toast.”

Weiss:Be glad you’re modded. Alright chat, I’m pretty low energy but I missed you all so we’re going to play a chill game and bd a cozy streamer tod-

Yang:Woop woop woop woop woop! Sup lovelies!

Weiss:I wish you were the one eating toast.

Yang:You gave us all an open invite! I even brought my chat.

Weiss:Your chat didn’t enter in like an alarm. What do you want me to play?

Yang:Resident E-

Weiss:Try again

Yang:….Is your personal jrpg guide awake?

Weiss:I don’t wanna bother him this early. Chat, suggestions?

It’s immediately flooded with “Genshin Impact”

Blake:Do it!!! Join me!

Weiss:Please, any other sane suggestion. Don’t force me into that madness.

Knightly Crescent: I’ll help you start Kingdom Hearts. Give me like 15 minutes.

Weiss:*silently happy*

Cardinal Pride: “Why should ever need your-”

Timed Out

Weiss: 🎶Thank you mods🎶

xxxxxx

Roughly 20 minutes of cozy chatting passes by before Weiss gets up to answer the door. Chat doesn’t need to know Jaune actually has a key. Things will start adding up.

Weiss:Camera on or off.

Jaune:I don’t mind.

Weiss:Kay.

She guides him to an empty chair for the messy haired boy to sit and get comfortable while she grabs snacks.

Jaune:H-Hello.

RBY: Jaune!!!!!

Coco Bean: “Heeeey Pretty boy”

Red Velvet: “I like your hoodie”

CB: Is this the boyfriend~

Jaune: I am a friend!

Weiss:Alright I’m b- Coco! Relax!

Jaune:Did I miss anything on the way here.

Blake:Weiss almost said a slur.

Weiss:Don’t lie to him!!!

Jaune:Why does this slightly feel true? What happened in 20 minutes?

xxxxx

Blake: Draw four.

Weiss:You little- ooooo *squints* oooo this is supposed to be a cozy stream.

Blake:What do you want say huh? Sounds pretty…intense. First semester intense.

Weiss:I would never!

Yang:Never! Really?

Chat: “First semester?”

Weiss:I was just going to call you a hoe!

Blake:Draw another four.

xxxxx

Jaune:I’m surprised you clipped this?

Ruby:It’s easier than than explaining what happened.

Weiss:Chat, you know the rules. No backseating, spoilers, or unwanted foreshadowing. I literally have a copilot.

Burdened Chef: “Is she paying you for this?”

Jaune:She can’t afford me.

The Burden: “Can’t even cook her own snacks.”

Weiss:Why is your team picking on me!? This is a welcome back stream!

The Burden gifted 10 subs

Weiss:Thank you Nora.

Nuts and Bolts gifted 30 subs.

“Salutations! Here’s to a safe return!😊”

Weiss:P- Penny you can’t just surprise a person like that. Thank you so much.

CB: “Oh are we doing a gifted war!? Let’s get crazy.”

Weiss:Coco-

50 tiers 2 subs

RBY: Yooooo

Weiss: *covers mouth* Guys, no! I’ll feel bad. That’s too much!

Multiple people start gifting subs and Weiss quickly begins hiding her face as the sound of her alerts constantly going off makes her emotional.

Yang:Awww the novice gamer girl is all red!

Ruby:It’s not a stream until Weiss is flustered.

Blake:And she’s still on the title screen.

Jaune:*smiles* You okay?

Weiss:This is going to be a long day.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

I was thinking about my big Elisabeth: das Musical post where I talked about all the versions I had seen and I realized that I barely talked about Rudolf even though hes basically my favorite character, so now I wanted to make a quick post to rectify that

I mean to be fair to myself for not talking about him that much, that post ended up being mostly me comparing different productions and what I thought they did better or worse than others, and I feel like Rudolf fundamentally always stays the same so theres not too much to compare. Its a classic case of 'if it aint broke, dont fix it' yknow? Its not like thats hard to do at all, he only has three songs (in the og prod, but even in later ones he only gets one as a child and two as an adult and while I love them and love when theyre included, I wouldnt consider them vitally important (although.... I mean Kind oder Nicht does such a phenomal job at communicating Rudolfs relationship to the monarchy while also being great foreshadowing, but we're not talking abt rn)) plus the mayerling walzer, and as long as you have those and as long as you have Tod kiss him on the mouth, Im pretty much satisfied. I wouldd be beyond satisfied if the non-Vienna productions could also put Tod in a dress, but you cant win em all I suppose

The fact that its so easy to get him right is what pisses me off about the 1999 Scheveningen prod btw, because its like, all you needed to do was let him have his second song but they DIDNT because it was too political i guess, so now hes just this weird fucking guy whos there for a bit and he doesnt really do anything for the story and you dont really know why hes there and then hes just gone again. hes like herbert von krolock if he killed himself

But enough about that, lets talk about the various versions of Rudolf now

If youve read my other post, Im sure you can guess that Andreas Bieber of the 92 proshot is my favorite. Hes just so pathetic and sad and he has such a lovely soft little voice and Im absolutely obsessed with the way uwe!tod just fucking GRIPS him during Die Schatten werden länger Reprise, mwah. 10/10, no notes. Markus Neubauer is also my favorite actor for child!rudolf because he just does such a good job acting like a little boy, and I know that sounds stupid because he is a little boy, but idk. The way he sings "ich kann hart und bös wie die Welt sein" in particular is just so good, I feel like none of the other child actors Ive heard for this part really act like that, I feel like theyre mostly focused on just sounding nice, which I do appreciate but idk, I just prefer this

Im not looking up the name of the guy from the 1998 Vienna proshot (sorry) because I just really dont care about that one, its overwhelmingly just a slightly worse version of the 1992 proshot, and thats also how I would describe this guys performance. Yknow, its not terrible or anything but hes less sad and suffering than andreas!rudolf so I just dont find him as compelling. Also I do not remember child!rudolf's performance at all, Im sorry

I also did not remember 1999!Scheveningen!Rudolf at all, but I didnt want to just leave it at that for this post, so I did rewatch his songs for this and hes alright, I feel similarly about him as the guy from the 1998 prod, although I do really like the choice of having him speak more directly to Elisabeth in Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär. Like, Elisabeth is sitting at her desk and shes facing him the whole and theres parts where they touch each other's cheeks and then at the very end he goes down on his knees and hugs her and oughhhhhh its really good. I really enjoy this strained sense of intimacy here, but I think thats mostly just because its novel because the point of this song is that Rudolf and Elisabeth are fundamentally the same and yet theres this intense disconnect between them, and I think the more typical staging where theyre far apart or seperated by a mirror or some other barrier works better for that symbollically. Unfortunately I cant say that I enjoy the novelty of having Rudolf stand infront of Elisabeth's door in Mama, wo bist du? instead of being in his bedroom, but the actor was fine. I was also going to watch the mayerling walzer but theres a kindof skip that happens in the copy that I have whre it just jumps straight to Rudolf, wo bist du? so I went to look for another upload of this proshot, and all the ones that I can find are two hours long while the one that have is around an hour and 40 minutes long (its the one from the internet archive) and now Im questioning everything ive ever said about this production because what if I didnt actually watch it in full and it doesnt have all these massive flaws. i guess i'll worry about that later

Moving on to Dolhai Attila from the 2004 Budapest proshot, whom I just love. Hes so pathetic, he has this incredible air of just being scared during Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär and hes just crawling around and begging for Elisabeth to pay attention to him and Im obsessed with it. I also like that they actually had a dancer to represent Mary during the mayerling walzer but then at the end she kindof gives him over to der Tod and they kiss, its like my favorite sex move. I thought the actor playing child!rudolf was fine, although he was noticeably focused on his singing over his acting imo. Also, during Mama, wo bist du? hes wearing a white undershirt and that blue uniform jacket-thing that he wears in most productions was either laying on his bed or hung up somewhere near his bed and very clearly visible, and I thought Tod was gonna put it on him towards the end of the song, but he didnt, and I thought that was a missed opportunity

I think Fritz Schmid in the 2005 Vienna proshot is pretty good, but hes simply not pathetic enough for me. Ive seen other people say that its because of Rudolf, ich bin außer mir, but I dont think thats the case. Like, I havent seen any footage of the 2012 Vienna production, but Ive listened to the cd and the guy playing Rudolf there definitely sounds sufficently pathetic enough for me, so it is possible for him as a character to be pathetic in this moment where hes standing up to his father, but this guy is simply not playing him like that, which is a shame. Johann Erbert as child!Rudolf is also very good, he has what I can only describe as an angelic choirboy-voice which sounds absolutely lovely, although I think it lacks the humanity of the technically rougher 1992 performance or even the 1999 performance, so I like it a little less than those

God, the 2016 Toho White prod does so much good shit with Rudolf. First of all, Furuwaka Yuta's performance was absolutely wonderful, his voice is just the right amount of soft and I love it. He is unfortunately lacking a bit in the patheticness-department but is very sad and he has this repressed anger which shines through at a couple key moments that I find really compelling. I love the choice of having Rudolf give the exposition about the german nationalists, and I love him and FJ standing on top of those giant coffins during Rudolf, ich bin außer mir. Also, during the conspiracy song everyone is also standing giant coffins and I think thats great; idk, its such a simple thing that I feel kinda stupid for enjoying it as much as I do, but then again, how can you possibls argue against the sheer evocativeness of having a bunch of people singing about societal change while standing on top of these gigantic coffins? Thats right, you cant. I will say, I found the way they did Eljen reprise extremely disappointing compared to the takarazuka version, but I'll talk more about that when we get to those productions. I love the choreography during Die Schatten werden länger Reprise, Rudolf and der Tod dont touch each other as much or as intensely as in other versions, which is unfortunate, but I like that there are these parts where Tod seems to be controlling his body, i think its a great way to show that he feels like hes losing control. And while they dont touch other that much, there is a part where Rudolf is laying on the ground and Tod is crawling towards him like some manner of predator, which scratches a similar itch in my brain. And ohhhhhhh dont even get me started on the mayerling walzer. The choreography is really good, I think it strikes a great balance between the kindof uncoordinated panic of the original Vienna choreo and the more deliberate interpretive dance-y Takarazuka choreo, and I love love love Rudolf initiating the kiss at the end. And godddddd, the way they linger on it and the way Tod gently caresses his face afterwards makes me crazy. If you care about todolf at all, I think this one is required viewing for you

I really dont have too much to say about child!rudold in this one, I think his actor (whose name I unfortunately couldnt find) does a very good job in both the singing and the acting department and hes just so cute, I feel like crying every time I think about him. I think its because hes just so small, like its been a little while since ive seen this proshot so maybe Im misremembering a little, but istg during Kind oder Nicht when hes standing next to Sophie, it looks like hes only as tall her her skirt, like he could hide inside the hoopskirt while standng fully upright and it makes me crazy. Speaking of Kind oder Nicht, I liked that Count Gondrecourt was there instead of the lady-in-waiting, I think thats a neat choice. And I really liked Rudolf being surrounded by these armour sets holding weapons during Mama, wo bist du? and the way they collapsed when der Tod properly entered the song. One of the armour sets was holding a gun and when Rudolf starts singing about killing the cat he takes it and kindof gesticulates with it, and Tod is just staring him in this intense way and its so good. mwah, 10/10

Okay, before I can really get into the things I like about Rudolf in the takarazuka productions, I need to briefly talk about the fact that I used to really dislike him in these. And I thought that it was because of the way that he was written, but then I was like "well no, I mean theyve obviously made a lot of changes to all of the songs during the whole takarazukification process, but Rudolf's actually seem to be the ones that are the most similar to the original german ones", so after realising that I thought "oh, its the conspiracy song and éljen reprise, those were obviously added later and so that part feels incongruent with the rest of his character and thats the reason his writing bothers me" but then I actually thought about those songs more, specifically éljen reprise, and I realized that theyre essentially expressing the same thing as Die Schatten werden länger Reprise except optimistic, yknow what I mean? Die Schatten werden länger Reprise is the depression and the conspiracy song/éljen reprise is the mania, thats the best way I can sum it up. And thats when I finally realized that the thing that was bothering me about Rudolf wasnt the writing at all, it was the acting – I did not like a single one of the actresses in this role, which is wild because by the time I came to this realization I had seen like dozen proshots already, but its the truth. But then I actually did find a Rudolf-performer that I liked, which further bolstered my realisation that it was the acting I had an issue, whose name I unfortunately cant remember because when it comes to zukabeth I dont pay all that much attention to the actresses that arent playing Tod or Elisabeth ToT I dont remember exactly which production they were in either, so shes just gonna have to be my lost cinderella until I decide to burn through all of these proshots again

I unfortunately cant tell you what exactly it is that makes me dislike all of these Rudolf-performances because its kindof all-encompassing I feel like, so idk, if you feel similarly and you can describe what it is, please tell me and we can see if I feel the same. However, what I can tell you is who my least favorite zuka!Rudolf is, and its Ryouga Haruhi from the 2009 Moon Troupe production. While shes clearly a very good singer, I dont really like the tone of her voice (atleast here, shes probably good in other musicals) and, Im not sure if this is a conscious acting choice or just the way her face normally moves, but shes constantly doing this grimace of a nervous smile and I really dont like that. I do not think that Rudolf is a nervous smiler, its unfitting imo

I was gonna jump into everything I like about adult!Rudolf in this version at this point and then talk about child!Rudolf after, but I think I would rather just get all the negatives out of the way first, so heres everything I dislike about child!Rudolf in this production: hes not played by a child which I find kind of offputting, especially when the actresses try too hard to project this sense of child-ness and innocence. And like, I know how the takarazuka revue operates (you essentially have to go a performing arts university preparing you to perform for this specific company and its very competive) so they obviously cant have child actors, but still. Also, the bowlcut wigs they put on them look so bad, I literally cannot believe theyve stuck with them for over 30 years now. And the thing that makes me even more frustrated with them is that they have different wigs in some of the shinjinkoen prods and they look a thousand times better! agh

Okay thats it, onto the positives: I noticed that the stage is a lot more abstract during the Rudolf/Tod scenes and I think thats very interesting. Like, the takarazuka sets can be quite minimalistic at times but theyre ultimately still very literal (unless theyre portraying purgatory like in the prologue or Am Deck der sinkenden Welt), but Mama, wo bist du? and die Schatten werden länger Reprise both take place in these voids full of marble columns and I think thats pretty neat. I really like the little moment after Mama, wo bist du? ends and Rudolf runs offstage while Tod does a little flourish of his hand thats kinda like a bow, I think its very cute and Im always upset when they dont do a closeup of it. During the instrumental portion of Die Schatten werden länger Reprise before they start singing, Rudolf sits down on the ground and starts saddrammatically vogueing and its peak takarazuka goofysilliness, and Im in a goofysillines-enjoyer mood so I really like that. And the absolute best Rudolf-bit in all of these productions is Eljen Reprise, which I guess is technically part of the conspiracy song herebut I like to call it that to better isolate the exact part I mean. So, Rudolf is in this cafe with the hungarian conspirators, theres a whole set there and everything, and theyve talked a bit but then theres a beat and the set suddenly splits gets wheeled offstage and people flood onto the stage and hungarian flags fall from the ceiling and they bring our this little church-podest-thing that we've seen in Eljen proper and Elisabeth is standing on it and smiling and waving, and the previously dimmed lights have suddenly turned bright and warm, giving the whole thing this fantastical triumphant glow (and all of this happens within seconds, its crazy), and Rudolf runs up to the podest to get crowned king of Hungary by Elisabeth while everyone is cheering for him, but as hes walking back to the front, some Todesengel steal the crown. After that we're essentially back in the conspiracy-sing tone-wise for a bit, but then we're back in Eljen Reprise Land where we get this big group dance number set to this fun triumphant music, but then theres suddenly gunshots those flags fall down and all of those people are afraid for their lives and fleeing, and GOD i love it so much. I lohed it even when I had issues without it because I thought it was incongruent with Rudolf's character because of the sheer emotions that it makes me feel and the way it makes my heartrate spike

And the Toho version is. very much not that. I get that those bigass coffins take up a lot of the stagespace so you cant really have it flood with people, and I dont think you could move those coffins offstage in only a couple seconds the way they move the cafe-set in the takarazuka prods because they seem pretty heavy and even if they arent, theres people standing on them so I feel like that would pretty dangerous, but idk. could they not atleast have the hungarian flags fall from the ceiling instead of just having them on the screen? Its much less effective because the visuals are not as fast and its not emotionally janking the audience around as much. I also think Lucheni putting the crown on Rudolf's head is inferior to Elisabeth putting the crown on Rudolf's head, although it is a pretty interesting choice when you consider the idea/interpretation of this musical's story, and particularly the fact that Rudolf's side of things is shown in a very sympathetic way, being influenced by Lucheni as a narrator, and when you co sider the fact that the real life Luigi Lucheni apparently quite liked Rudolf

Anyway thats it, I hope you enjoyed my Rudolf-thoughts! If you have any Rudolf-thoughts, please share them with me, I always appreciate it

[wingedblooms]

Owlish Elain

This is a Maasverse post, so there are probably spoilers for all three series below.

With owls in the title (statue) and cover (eyes, thanks to SerpentWyrd on Reddit) reveals for hofas, I am once again thinking about their connections to Elain. I’ve mentioned owls repeatedly across different posts, most recently in Elain's witch series, so I thought it would be fun to compile all of the connections here. If I’ve missed any connections, I’d love to know about it in comments and/or reblogs. 

Connections to mythology:

Elain's story is believed to be inspired by the myth of Blodeuwedd, a spring maiden who is transformed into an owl in Welsh mythology. Like Elain, owls were believed to have mystical and prophetic powers, and the myths surrounding them were full of contradictions. They were associated with mythical beings and ancient goddesses, who at one point in history, represented a continuum of life and death (life, death, and rebirth). They were feared as bearers of death, and were admired as otherworldly messengers and solemn protectors. As a symbol linked to Athena, the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology, they were viewed as a good omen: a sign of victory in battle. Some believed they had an inner light that enabled them to see in the dark (and after years of research, we know their sight and hearing have been adapted for hunting, giving them excellent precision; some can even hunt on sound alone in complete darkness). They were also viewed as a bad omen: a sign of catastrophe and death. This dark aspect is connected to Lilith, a woman, demon, and goddess in various legends who is linked to witchcraft. In Roman mythology, owls were believed to be transformed witches who drank the blood of infants. 

Connections to witches:

Owls and witches are connected in mythology, so it isn’t surprising that Sarah gives at least one of her witch clans similar features. Feyre and Nesta point out Elain's figurative claws and teeth in acosf/acosf bonus content, which may be a hint of what she hides in the shadows: a beautiful ironteeth monster. Ironteeth witches were gifted iron from the Three-Faced Goddess to prevent magic from pulling them away. It acted as an anchor to the earth, which makes me wonder just how many witches possess some form of Sight, and whether Elain’s collection of iron serves the same purpose. The biggest connection by far, though, is that ironteeth witches also blink into place a clear eyelid, similar to what owls possess, to protect their vision as they fly. Elain often blinks like an owl when she uses her Sight, and her sister, Feyre, blinks when she is released from the Cauldron's mystic-like power as it traveled across the battlefield in various animal forms. 

Connections to shifting form:

Nesta and Amren share otherworldly eyes, a connection that was foreshadowed by a family dinner conversation where Nesta boldly questioned Amren about her eyes. @kimsnnn noticed this conversation parallels Elain’s questions about Amren’s form at another family dinner in acofas. If this is a hint (and I hope it is), Elain and Amren might share otherworldly forms. Rhys makes a connection between them at another family dinner and interestingly, it also centers on transformation: “Some were as lovely as you, Elain,” Rhys said from beside Feyre, “from the outside. But once they set foot into the arena of battle, they became as bloodthirsty as Amren.” (acosf) We've seen Amren’s form on the battlefield and know it behaves like an otherworldly bird of prey. And in that same battle, we’ve seen Elain appear suddenly and take out a king’s throat to protect her family. I’m just hoping this transformation, if it happens, also comes with wings. 

Connections to healing:

From what we learned in Tower of Dawn (tod), healers bridge life and death. Their light can bind wounds and devour darkness. They can sense Death when it is near. They are also linked to owls through the goddess Silba and Maeve used this knowledge to her advantage to create her own secret army of protectors. The best weapon against the Valg (also referred to as demons) was not a blade, but healing light. Sarah describes the various owls carved into the healers’ tower (Torre Cesme, meaning Tower of Dawn), and one in particular stands out: “Even though it perched atop a gnarled branch of iron that flowed across the door itself, wings flared wide as it prepared to leap into the skies, it seemed … alert. Aware of all who passed that door, who perhaps gazed too long in the direction of the workshop.” (tod) This owl reminds me of those with the gift of Sight, like Elain. She also maintains her own herb garden, like a healer, and is consistently compared to the dawn. Add the possibility of shifting into a bird of prey, and we’ve got very powerful connections here. 

Connections to the song of the wind:

When Elain tracks down the Suriel, she notes that it travels like the breath of the western wind. In other words, it travels like an owl: a shadow on the wind. Elain starts moving similarly after this scene and continues to surprise others with her swift appearance. It’s probably also intentional that the first question she asks Azriel relates to his ability to fly, which he connects to the song of the wind. Witches also possess power related to wind and use it to create brooms that allow them to fly. I wouldn’t be surprised if Elain has learned to move like the wind by watching others (especially Azriel, whom she observes closely) and listening to its call. 

Connections to those with Sight: 

When Feyre is bound to the Cauldron, she travels with it as it flies through the world. It continuously shifts animal form (like Urd) when it searches for someone, but it begins in what I assume is a bird of prey. Elain seems to possess the ability to move like this fluid form with her Cauldron-gifted Sight. This might even be how mystics travel and search for answers, which often first requires them to find specific creatures. The Suriel’s comment about seeing Elain’s doe eyes search for it across the realm is a big hint, as is Feyre’s comment on Elain wandering in her Sight.  

If Elain isn’t connected to owls, my friends, we riot. 😆

[acourtofquestions]

"What's wrong?" Elide breathed

"Nothing—I mean, beyond what you already know."

Such cruelty. Such terrible, unforgivable cruelty.

Yrene coiled her magic back into herself, but kept her hands on Elide's ankle. "This injury would require weeks of work to repair, and with our current circumstances, I don't think either of us can undergo it." Elide nodded. "But if we survive this war, I can help you, if you wish."

"What would it entail?"

"There are two roads," Yrene said, letting some of her magic seep into Elide's leg, soothing the aching muscles, the spots where bone ground against bone with no buffer. The lady sighed. "The first is the hardest. It would require me to completely restructure your foot and ankle. Meaning, I would have to break apart the bone, take out the parts that healed or fused incorrectly, and then regrow them. You could not walk while I did it, and even with the help I could give you for the pain, the recovery would be agonizing." There was no way around that truth. "I'd need three weeks to take apart your bones and put them back together, but you'd need at least a month of resting and learning to walk on it again."

Elide's face had gone pale. "And the other option?"

"The other option would be to not do the healing, but to give you salve—like the one you said Lorcan gave you—to help with the aches. But I will warn you: the pain will never entirely leave you. With the way your bones grind together here"—she gently touched the spot on Elide's upper foot, then a spot down by her toes—"arthritis is already setting in. As the bones continue to grind together, the arthritis, that pain you feel when you walk, will only worsen. There may come a point in a few years-maybe five, maybe ten, it's hard to tell-when you find the pain to be so bad that no salve can help you."

"So I would need the healing then, regardless."

"It's up to you whether you want the healing at all. I only want you to have a better idea of the road ahead." She smiled at the lady. "It's up to you to decide how you wish to face it."

Yrene tapped Elide's foot, and the lady lowered it back to the floor before putting her sock back on, then her boot. Efficient, easy motions. Yrene sipped from her tea, cool enough now to drink. The fresh verve of the peppermint zapped through her, clearing her mind and calming her stomach.

Elide said, "I don't know if I can face that pain again."

Yrene nodded. "With that sort of injury, it would require facing a great many things inside yourself." She smiled toward the wagon entrance. "My husband and I just went through one such journey together."

"Was it hard?"

"Incredibly. But he did it. We did it." Elide considered, then shrugged. "We'd have to survive this war first, I suppose. If we live ... then we can talk about it."

"Fair enough."

[oceanblueeyes03]

The schedule torn on who I think he'll show up at but in a way I think it'll be tomorrow, but then that Tod's bag they used in the papwalk has my brain going foreshadowing lol. Maybe they will both be down from a cold and we will few spared lol.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

•   10:30 Pronounce

•   12:30 Dolce & Gabbana

•   5:00 PM Paul Smith

•   7:00 PM Emporio Armani

Sunday, June 22, 2025

•   10:00 Simon Cracker

•   12:00 Qasimi

•   2:00 PM Prada

•   3:00 PM Bally

•   3:00 PM Saul Nash

•   5:00pm Tod's

•   19:00 Dunhill

Monday, June 23, 2025

•   09:39 David Catalan

•   10:30 Miguel Vieira

•   12:00 Giorgio Armani

I hope they go to none.

[agneswarda]

the manger and the cross - the manger already alluding to the cross jesus will die on - is an ancient and important theological concept. There actually are christmas songs which talk about him being sacrificed, often in the final verses.

e. g. "Ihr Kinderlein, kommet" (= come, o children) is a well-known german christmas song, and one of the later verses (normally completely forgotten today) goes:

5. O betet: Du liebes, Du göttliches Kind

was leidest Du alles für unsere Sünd’!

Ach hier in der Krippe schon Armut und Not,

am Kreuze dort gar noch den bitteren Tod.

which roughly translates to:

O pray: Lovely, divine child

what you will suffer for our sin!

O, here in the manger poverty and hardship,

on the cross even bitter death.

One quick google search showed me that the idea also still is popular with the evangelicals. They put out some truly horrifying imagery. My fav rn is:

(source)

So, do not worry, the christians (and I think especially the catholics) are well aware of the horrors. Foreshadowing the main blorbo's death is one of our fav traditions.

why is religious Christmas imagery all so joyful and pleasant? where is the inherent horror of the birth of Christ? A mother is handed her newborn child, wailing and innocent. Her hands come away sticky. Red. Simply by giving her son life she has already killed him. He is doomed from the beginning. Her love will not save him from suffering. Because the thing cradled in her arms is not a baby, it is a sacrifice: born amongst the other bleating animals whose blood will one day be spilled in the name of what demands it. the night is silent with anticipation. Mary, did you know? That your womb was also a grave?

[qu-film-history-to-1968]

How things other than dialogue can impact a scene

The film Dracula that was made in 1931 and directed by Tod Browning and Karl Freund. The film falls into the horror/ thriller/ fantasy genre as it covers a lot in an hour and twenty minutes. The film was originally produced by Universal but there have since been a lot of adaptations following the original 1931 film. Dracula was made from the Bram Stroker novel but there are noticeable difference in plot between the novel and the film. From the start of the film there is sort of an eerie film so it makes you think the movie will be a bit horror like and the music plays into that feel. Also, from the start the dialogue introduces the idea of being afraid of Dracula and vampires in general and it foreshadows the fear that is about to come. The use of darkness also makes for a mysterious portrayal, as when there is one character shown on screen it is just their face that is lit up and it gives the audience something to fear. The movie drew on the notion of what a vampire is supposed to look like and what everyone thinks of when they hear vampire, with the hair the teeth and the outfit. Universal is known for having very well-done elaborate movies but not necessarily horror movies early in time and Dracula was one of the first of it’s kind. It was unique because it did not stay specifically in one genre it overlapped and broke the quote-on-quote mold of being strictly a horror movie because it was not. Another way that this movie is unique is through its use of dialogue, I feel like the dialogue is used in a very powerful way because there is not a whole lot of it so each time it is used it is very impactful and meaningful. I feel like this is not common throughout a lot of films and I think that it makes the film unique because it allows the story to develop without a lot of back and forth. The film Dracula had a budget of 355,000 dollars which at the time was a pretty average cost for a movie but the average cost of a Hollywood film today is 65 million dollars. This proves that the standard for making a movie has changed quite a bit as well as the standard for what makes a horror movie has changed as well. Horror movies now have become more over the top and a lot more scary than the ones that were produced in the 1930s which is shown by how Dracula played out and the minimal use or horror techniques that made it a little creepy rather than scary.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_N-H_5Pvu8

[respondwithsarcasm]

Brannon, Empire of Storms:

Me, after Tower of Dawn:

[adridoesstuff]

My favorite details in the original costume design for Elisabeth das Musical (as a student of costume design/scenography)

Elisabeth wearing a trachten (traditional German clothing) at the beginning of the show. It emphasizes her youthfulness, playfulness and origin as a Bavarian princess, which only emphasizes her transition into being the Emperess, when she starts wearing proper fashionable dresses

The vines on everyone except for Lucheni and Der Tod. The vines symbolize that all the characters in the show are long dead ghosts, with the vines harkening back to funeral wreaths. Lucheni doesn't have a vine, since he is the one telling the story/controlling the ghosts to show the story and Der Tod is just his non-human omnipresent eternal self

Sophie in a riding military style bodice while at court. It shows her rigidity, starkness and decisiveness as "the only man at court". Also, the riding jacket foreshadows the visuals for Wir oder sie in Act 2!

Der Tod's jacket/tailcoat. The entirety of Der Tod is iconic but I love both iterations of the coat. I love how the original played with the androgyny concept with the jacket being widened from the waist down in a skirt-like style. And when they turned it into a tailcoat in the revival, I think they played more with the concept of Der Tod being a timeless being, since the cut they chose for it is very regency/empire style, but it's also very sharp and modern in the materials

Der Tod wearing gloves! I think that all of us can agree that gloves are super hot, but it also makes you wonder if perhaps Der Tod's touch is somehow harmful or unnaturaly cold without them and he wears them for Elisabeth specifically (I'm saying this because I'm fairly certain that in 2005, Der Tod only wears those gloves around Elisabeth. When he later interacts with Rudolf during Shatten and later Myerling, he doesn't wear them, showing that he doesn't care about Rudolf as much, since Rudolf's just a stepping stone towards Elisabeth for him)

Elisabeth's Bad Ischl dress being dark blue. She wears the dress directly after meeting Der Tod for the first time and she's dressed in his colors to show the beginning of her infatuation with him

Same with her wedding ball dress, which has fringe on it in a very similar style to Der Tod's white costume from the prologue. So, us viewers, subconciously know that even though she's now married to Franz, Elisabeth still feels a pull to Der Tod. And staying on the wedding dress, I love that they gave her long sleeves, so as to make her appear more childlike and innocent-looking in the crowd of noble ladies with short sleeves, who just a scene before badmouthed her for being exactly that: a naive girl

Max still wearing his trachten/hunting clothes even during the wedding ball. Just shows how resiliently he holds onto his personal freedom, even when faced with a crowd of guests dressed in proper formal attire

Sophie wearing black to the wedding, since she is a bitchy mother-in-law now and what's more fitting to show your displeasure over your son's marriage than wearing funeral black?

Elisabeth wearing pants during Die Maladie. She's supposed to be working out when she collapses and it's much more logical for her to be in pants in that scene than in whatever that lilac robe in the 2nd revival is. There are actually preserved workout trousers the real Elisabeth wore and I love that Reinhard Heinrich incorporated them into the show

Adult Rudolf wearing a Hungarian hussar-style jacket. This clearly shows his different, more liberal views and clearly separates him from Franz, his father, who is in a more ridgid Austrian military uniform. Also, Franz does have Hungarian style costumes, but he only wears those while in Hungary as a way to gain favor with the locals while Rudolf wears his Hungarian jacket even when he's in Vienna. (The revival managed to screw this up with putting Rudolf in an almost identical uniform to Franz)

The Myerling dresses! The movement and tailoring these have is impeccable. Also, the dresses mirror Elisabeth's dress from Debrezin/Act 1 Shatten with the black/teal color palette and the stripes, since both these scenes are about a painful loss of one of Elisabeth's children because of her unadvised decisions, with which she tried to keep her freedom

Der Tod's entire color palette and costume changing after his refusal of Elisabeth. The way he goes from otherworldly cold and almost inhuman while dressed in that sharp dark colored tailcoat to his character being almost human in the last two scenes and dressed in white in a flowy shirt. *chef's kiss*