#❛ ╱ andersen collins .

[thehmn]

Hans Christian Andersen was close friends with a guy named Edvard Collin and the letters Andersen sent to him suggests he was hoping to become more than friends but Collin wasn’t interested. They stayed close until the end despite this.

Edvard is just the Danish version of Edward and Collin is pronounced like Cullen. I’ve been laughing for days.

[moviemosaics]

The Promised Land

directed by Nikolaj Arcel, 2023

[dream-this-nightmare-over]

Katniss: I never wanted any of this

Jonas: I didn’t want any of this

and then there is rasmus being like: hell, this is best thing that ever happened to me. i am the bloody hero, hell yeah. bow down bitches

[oldillustrations]

"Fairy Tales from Andersen" Collins' Clear-Type Press London and Glasgow 1907

[wronggalaxy]

I just wrote an Edward Cullen/Hans Christian Anderson fanfic and I am questioning my life heavily right now.

(It's on ao3 under the account Iwanttogotosleep and called: History Hates Lovers)

[cinemedios]

'El Bastardo', el violento camino al poder y la riqueza

En 'El Bastardo', Nikolaj Arcel nos cuenta un clásico relato sobre la búsqueda de poder y riquezas, con una conclusión algo diferente.

A lo largo de la historia del cine hemos visto historias de personas que traicionan sus valores e ideales cuando su ambición de poder se vuelve incontrolable. Relatos de corrupción que han trascendido por ser siempre relevantes, tan solo hace poco acabamos de ver Duna Parte 2 que nos cuenta el ascenso del tirano Paul Atreides, historia que existe desde hace 60 años con la novela de Frank Herbert.…

[randomrichards]

THE PROMISED LAND (2023):

Idealist soldier

Cultivates a barren heathe

Takes on rich A-holes

[lordrakim]

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED A TROVE OF DAMNING COVID DOCUMENTS

New documents show a scientist calling a lab leak “highly likely” — after drafting a paper claiming the opposite. Continue reading Untitled

[washdayradionetwork]

Why is it that no one comes to save those who rot in our prisons for the simple act of protesting injustice?

Why does it take so bloody long?

Maybe your would-be saviors are comfortable. Maybe they're scared. But, one thing's for sure: When you hear the sound of prison gates falling, when the walls buckle from the weight of people climbing them to free you, a mountain range, an epoch, a network of neural pathways is crumbling, and ain't nothing gonna put it back together.

This is Judy Collins singing Eric Andersen's "Thirsty Boots".

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

Okay, folks, the mini-tourney is inching closer to the finals, so I'm going to give a list of the competitors in the Miss Billboard Tourney in order to give everyone a chance to submit more propaganda. The nominees are:

Lale Andersen

Marian Anderson

Signe Toly Anderson

Julie Andrews

LaVerne Andrews

Maxene Andrews

Patty Andrews

Ann-Margret

Joan Armatrading

Dorothy Ashby

Joan Baez

Pearl Bailey

Belle Baker

Josephine Baker

LaVern Baker

Florence Ballard

Brigitte Bardot

Eileen Barton

Fontella Bass

Shirley Bassey

Maggie Bell

Lola Beltran

Ivy Benson

Gladys Bentley

Jane Birkin

Cilla Black

Ronee Blakley

Teresa Brewer

Anne Briggs

Ruth Brown

Joyce Bryant

Vashti Bunyan

Kate Bush

Montserrat Caballe

Maria Callas

Blanche Calloway

Wendy Carlos

Cathy Carr

Raffaella Carra

Diahann Carroll

Karen Carpenter

June Carter Cash

Charo

Cher

Meg Christian

Gigliola Cinquetti

Petula Clark

Merry Clayton

Patsy Cline

Rosemary Clooney

Natalie Cole

Judy Collins

Alice Coltrane

Betty Comden

Barbara Cook

Rita Coolidge

Gal Costa

Ida Cox

Karen Dalton

Marie-Louise Damien

Betty Davis

Jinx Dawson

Doris Day

Blossom Dearie

Kiki Dee

Lucienne Delyle

Sandy Denny

Jackie DeShannon

Gwen Dickey

Marlene Dietrich

Marie-France Dufour

Julie Driscoll

Yvonne Elliman

Cass Elliot

Maureen Evans

Agnetha Faeltskog

Marianne Faithfull

Mimi Farina

Max Feldman

Gracie Fields

Ella Fitzgerald

Roberta Flack

Lita Ford

Connie Francis

Aretha Franklin

France Gall

Judy Garland

Crystal Gayle

Gloria Gaynor

Bobbie Gentry

Astrud Gilberto

Donna Jean Godchaux

Lesley Gore

Eydie Gorme

Margo Guryan

Sheila Guyse

Nina Hagen

Francoise Hardy

Emmylou Harris

Debbie Harry

Annie Haslam

Billie Holiday

Mary Hopkin

Lena Horne

Helen Humes

Betty Hutton

Janis Ian

Mahalia Jackson

Wanda Jackson

Etta James

Joan Jett

Bessie Jones

Etta Jones

Gloria Jones

Grace Jones

Shirley Jones

Tamiko Jones

Janis Joplin

Barbara Keith

Carole King

Eartha Kitt

Chaka Khan

Hildegard Knef

Gladys Knight

Sonja Kristina

Patti Labelle

Cleo Laine

Nicolette Larson

Daliah Lavi

Vicky Leandros

Peggy Lee

Rita Lee

Alis Lesley

Barbara Lewis

Abbey Lincoln

Melba Liston

Julie London

Darlene Love

Lulu

Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Barbara Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Vera Lynn

Siw Malmkvist

Lata Mangeshkar

Linda McCartney

Kate McGarrigle

Christie McVie

Bette Midler

Jean Millington

June Millington

Liza Minnelli

Carmen Miranda

Joni Mitchell

Liz Mitchell

Marion Montgomery

Lee Morse

Nana Mouskouri

Anne Murray

Wenche Myhre

Holly Near

Olivia Newton-John

Stevie Nicks

Nico

Laura Nyro

Virginia O’Brien

Odetta

Yoko Ono

Shirley Owens

Patti Page

Dolly Parton

Freda Payne

Michelle Phillips

Edith Piaf

Ruth Pointer

Leontyne Price

Suzi Quatro

Gertrude Rainey

Bonnie Raitt

Carline Ray

Helen Reddy

Della Reese

Martha Reeves

June Richmond

Jeannie C. Riley

Minnie Riperton

Jean Ritchie

Chita Rivera

Clara Rockmore

Linda Ronstadt

Marianne Rosenberg

Diana Ross

Anna Russell

Melanie Safka

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Samantha Sang

Pattie Santos

Hazel Scott

Doreen Shaffer

Jackie Shane

Marlena Shaw

Sandie Shaw

Dinah Shore

Judee Sill

Carly Simon

Nina Simone

Nancy Sinatra

Siouxsie Sioux

Grace Slick

Bessie Smith

Mamie Smith

Patti Smith

Ethel Smyth

Mercedes Sosa

Ronnie Spector

Dusty Springfield

Mavis Staples

Candi Staton

Barbra Streisand

Poly Styrene

Maxine Sullivan

Donna Summer

Pat Suzuki

Norma Tanega

Tammi Terrell

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Big Mama Thornton

Mary Travers

Moe Tucker

Tina Turner

Twiggy

Bonnie Tyler

Sylvia Tyson

Sarah Vaughan

Sylvie Vartan

Mariska Veres

Akiko Wada

Claire Waldoff

Jennifer Warnes

Dee Dee Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Dinah Washington

Ethel Waters

Elisabeth Welch

Kitty Wells

Mary Wells

Juliane Werding

Tina Weymouth

Cris Williamson

Ann Wilson

Mary Wilson

Nancy Wilson

Anna Mae Winburn

Syreeta Wright

Tammy Wynette

Nan Wynn

Those in italics have five or more pieces of usable visual, written, or audio propaganda already. If you have any visuals like photos or videos, or if you have something to say in words, submit it to this blog before round one begins on June 25th!

If you don't see a name you submitted here, it's because most or all of their career was as a child/they were too young for the cutoff, their career was almost entirely after 1979, or music was something they only dabbled in and are hardly known for. There are quite a few ladies on the list whose primary career wasn't "recording artist" or "live musician," but released several albums or were in musical theater, so they've been accepted.

[prosedumonde]

J’ai aimé deux fois, mais ce n’était qu’un leurre, et pourtant la personne leurrée souffre le plus, je ne l’oublie jamais, même si nous deux n’en parlons jamais. Ce sont ces souffrances dont on ne peut même pas parler à son ami le plus cher. Et même si je suis rétabli, la douleur ne se manifeste dans les parties guéries que parfois. Il aurait sans doute mieux valu que ces mots n’aient jamais été écrits. 

Hans Christian Andersen, lettre à Edward Collin 4 août 1836

[princesssarisa]

All the reviews of the Little Mermaid remake so far have been focused on Ariel and Eric, and how both Eric's character and their romance are more fleshed out than in the original.

But they've given very little attention to the relationship at the heart of the original animated version: Ariel and King Triton.

The animated Little Mermaid is much more about Ariel and her father than it is about Ariel and Eric. The central character arc is King Triton's realization that he needs to let Ariel be free. This arguably justifies the fact that the original Eric is a slightly two-dimensional prince (although still a very likable and heroic one) and why his romance arc with Ariel is so simple and "fairy tale." Nothing else is needed, because the 1989 Little Mermaid is a father/daughter story first and foremost, a romantic love story second.

But if the remake foregrounds the romance more than the father/daughter relationship (I'm not saying it does, I don't know because I haven't seen it yet, but if) ...well, maybe that's okay.

Ideally, remakes and retellings should always bring something new to the story. I've recently been thinking about the changes the different iterations of Disney's Beauty and the Beast bring to Belle's character; namely, how the original 1991 animated Belle is more of a paragon (apart from her occasional rash mistakes) who doesn't need to change herself, but is validated and inspires change, while both of the two Belles who sing lyrics by Tim Rice (1994 stage and 2017 film) have more of a character arc of gaining a more nuanced, less black-and-white worldview, and of realizing that they don't need "adventure in the great wide somewhere" but can be happy in the here and now. I think both of those approaches to her character are fully valid, and it's interesting to notice the difference. I'm sure any thematic differences between the animated Little Mermaid, the 2008 stage musical, and the new remake can be just as interesting.

Besides, there's no father/daughter drama in the original Hans Christian Andersen story of The Little Mermaid. The Andersen story is more about the Mermaid and the Prince (and her longing for a soul), because it was inspired by Andersen's unrequited love for his friend Edvard Collin. The original Sea King is a minor, almost non-existent character.

If there's one thing I've learned from studying different retellings of fairy tales, it's that there's almost never a single, definitive theme that the story is inherently "about."

[panlight]

So I have known for awhile that Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid was likely inspired by the unrequited love he had for a male friend of his who was about to marry someone else. But I only just realized that the friend's name was Edvard Collin.

That's . . . that's so close to 'Edward Cullen.'

I've also always thought that the (original) Little Mermaid has similar ~vibes to Twilight, although TLM actually goes for the sad ending that Twilight just seems to hint at with all the quotes about not eating from the tree of knowledge or violent delights having violent ends. The most interesting parallel to me is that in the original, mermaids do not have souls; they live for three hundred years and then die, ceasing to exist as a consciousness as their bodies turn to foam on the sea. Humans, on the other hand, have shorter lives but immortal souls that continue on after death. The mermaid is fascinated by the human world, yes, and falls in love with the prince, yes, but she also . . . kinda wants a soul? And can obtain one if a human loves her and marries her.

There's also the constant pain she is in walking on land as part of her bargain with the sea witch, which I thought was paralleled with the painful thirst that is never quenched when choosing to be a vegetarian vampire, but . . . that doesn't seem to be much of a thing for Bella in the end so maybe not.

[imagitory]

Okay -- so my visual aids for this post are very limited since Disney+ will not let me properly screenshot this and there are no good quality versions of this on Youtube anymore...but I need to talk about Disney's The Little Mermaid TV series for a second. Specifically, one episode very near and dear to my heart called Metal Fish, which features a human explorer going down in a fish-shaped submarine to the bottom of the ocean, getting stuck, and being found by Ariel and her friends.

Now honestly, watching the episode again, there's a lot I don't love about it. Sebastian's whole subplot with the crab scouts is really kind of annoying, and I skip every bit of it. But I love the character of Archimedes (even if he never appeared in the show again! Boo!), and -- more importantly to today -- there's this wonderful moment right toward the beginning of the third act of the episode where Ariel and our human explorer lay eyes on each other for the first time, and there's just this electric connection.

Something that bypasses words -- this sense of wonder, enchantment -- almost enlightenment. And is it surprising? No! Ariel is the spitting image of what the human explorer had in his mind, when he was dreamily sketching out what a mermaid could look like, back on land.

And of course, at the end of the episode, what else should the explorer end up being named, but Hans Christian Andersen? And what else would he do, after being rescued by a mermaid, but use it as inspiration for one of his most famous fairy tales?

Okay, yeah, admittedly Hans Christian Andersen was a much sadder and more dysfunctional brown-haired human being IRL (just watch this video for a nice deep-dive about this disaster gay/bi/honestly-maybe-even-romantic-ace)...not to mention he wasn't even half this dashing nor close to being vocally similar to the great Mark Hamill...but one thing I absolutely love about this episode, and the aspect I personally respond to most, is the choice the series' creators made to have their interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen and Ariel have a very striking visual similarity, as well as similar personalities.

Many theorize that the original little mermaid was a self-insert character for HCA, with his fairy tale being a fantastical lament about the one-sided love he felt for the son of his most significant patron, Edvard Collin, who -- like the mermaid's prince in the original -- fell in love with and chose to wed another. There's even preserved correspondence by HCA where he writes of his feelings for Edvard being "those of a woman." And although this is more likely about HCA struggling to express romantic feelings that felt out of place in the very religious, heteronormative world he was a part of than about HCA himself identifying as transgender, I still think it was such a sweet little gesture for this episode to highlight Ariel and HCA seeing themselves in each other.

And this is where I wish SO MUCH I had some good quality video so I could truly share this piece of the episode with all of you -- because the moment where Ariel and Hans see each other for the first time gives me such life.

When Hans first sees Ariel, he's lost for breath, and he sounds and looks almost bereft when she disappears from view. When Ariel first makes eye contact with Hans, she clutches her face and hair, almost as if seeing herself clearly for the first time. And the whole time, they're looking at each other not fully face-to-face, but through glass and water -- almost a reflection of each other. Because...they are.

I'm sorry, I fail to articulate how utterly beautiful this is. No love story could ever capture the emotion this short scene instills in me. A platonic connection so powerful that it transforms you and how you see yourself forever. Meeting another person and, in doing so, truly knowing yourself for the first time.

However much I might praise The Little Mermaid TV series primarily for its music, there are also moments like this that remind me how wonderful Disney's adaptation of Andersen's story really is.

[lizziethereader]

April 2024 wrapup

not pictured: - Confess by Colleen Hoover [I had to read it for work] - The Way I am now by Amber Smith [same here] - Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover [yup, you guessed it - work] - The Mountain is you by Brianna Wiest [once again, work]

Life has been so busy that I haven't been able to post by April wrapup until the end of June.... here it is now (super delayed). If I remember correctly, April was a bit of a mixed bag - there were a few good reads, but unfortunately also quite a few that I had higher hopes for.

favorite of the month: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

nonfiction of the month (2.5): Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, The Mountain is you by Brianna Wiest + some of the essays in The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

classics (1): Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

poetry (1): Musical Tables by Billy Collins

graphic novel (1): Oddball by Sarah Andersen

[tackypies]

what fascinates me about fgo's adaptation of andersen is that nasu talks about how the story overtakes the man while, as a writer, he makes the conscious decision to erase almost all historical basis regarding andersen

in fate extra ccc, we get a backstory that has no historical basis at all. tl;dr: andersen confesses that he once loved an orphan girl but could not marry her. he saw her married to an old friend of his, she was found murdered a week later.

while andersen befriended many women throughout his lifetime - and while he was infamous for having unrequited crushes on unattainable men and women - there is no historical basis for the story nasu wove for him. it's odd because it's one of those rewrites that doesn't need an extensive remake. there is already so much material in andersen's biography and nasu is so diligent with historical trivia and details (i.e. see, santa quetz) that it's bizarre he walked out of researching andersen with ...... almost nothing

as an authorial choice, it's worth examining and critiquing. in the fate universe, it's not uncommon to take a character and to reshape them to fit a narrative theme - see attila the hun for example - but there's rarely a character whose historical background fits the themes nasu wants to write about who is completely overwritten (i.e. gilgamesh & enkidu)

nasu doesn't shy away from writing complex characters that recontextualizes/reexamines their reputations. i think that's one of the most baffling things about his choice with andersen. there's more than enough fodder for him to make a canonical fate backstory that encompasses who andersen was, his insecurities, the important people in his life, etc. rather than writing it all off to a fridged, unnamed female character who's an amalgamation of the women andersen knew in life - women such as riborg voigt, jenny lind, henriette wulff - women who are very interesting and more than just "oh, my pure love that died!" it's very odd that more trivial aspects of andersen's history (i.e. his love for travel, his adoration of shakespeare) are focused on whereas the people of his personal life aren't even hinted at (dumas excluded)

on a personal level, i'm miffed, though i can see why nasu has decided to veer away from referencing any actual human being from andersen's true life. for decades, there's been controversy about andersen's exact sexuality, especially regarding his turbulent and at times overly dependent relationship with edvard collins. i talk about andersen's life in this twitter thread & his love life in this thread, to give you an idea of what i'm talking about. regardless of whether you think they're in a relationship or not, it's odd to dash off any reference of a man so important to andersen that he requested to be buried side by side with him

all in all there's parts of fate/ andersen i love of course. there's parts i don't love. but the more i think on it, the more fascinating nasu's adaptation of andersen is, because i ultimately think he wants andersen to be his own perspective on writing - which may explain why he's so sparse on actual historical reference for andersen, and why andersen has almost no real historical grounds for his fate backstory. he's meant to be a funny little guy intended to be a commentary device on the process of writing. possibly. i'd need to reread more of fgo to get a better handle on that

tl;dr nasu said "wow isnt it funny how andersen is overwritten by others' perception of him" while simultaneously overwriting andersen with his authorial perception