#Cassilda’s songs

[mordenandmerry]

I just found out that you can sing Cassilda’s song over Faroe’s song and I need people to know about this

[talefoundryshow]

NEW IN STORE!

“Song of my soul, my voice is dead.”

Abbie has given us a beautiful glimpse into the lost, crumbling city of Carcosa and its tattered King. It won’t be around forever, so be sure to pick yours up before they’re gone!

[creekschaoscorner]

Malevoversary 2024 - Day 6

(Alternate Prompts)

Fave Villain • Poetry • Parallels

[redacted-metallum]

Bitches will make it so that you cannot forget Carcosa, where black stars hang in the heavens, where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon when the twin suns sink into the Lake of Hali and be like "can't help being a Taurus ♉💫💛!"

[iampresent]

When I tell you this goddamn book has me in a chokehold

[sadcypress]

New season of Nature of My Game starts up tomorrow, and the trailer is out now! This one ends in a very, very different place than it begins, but boy, it sure does begin with traumatized friends doing the 1895 Parisian equivalent of seeing your friend’s improv show and it goes about as well as you’d imagine.

We also have art showing off how cute our characters are, if you are into that sort of thing:

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

[milfglupshitto]

Review: Cassilda's Song

Cassilda's Song: Tales Inspired by Robert W. Chambers King in Yellow Mythos was one of the anthologies on the further reading list in the back of my copy of The King in Yellow. Specifically, it's a collection of stories by women writers interacting with the concepts and beats from the foundational text. I got around to reading through it yesterday, so this is just going to be a quick review!

Overall: hits and misses. I categorically resent the fact that so many collections of fiction by women are entirely absent of stories that don't involve sexual abuse, or conflate womanhood with suffering or mystify the experience of women as entirely alien. My sister put it really well when we were talking about it: depictions of women's sexuality aren't subversive if they posit it as either 1) nonexistent without assault or 2) inherently abnormal, and a lot of stories in this collection do that. I was not surprised that many of the author bios mentioned dark fantasy. Outside of this trend, I enjoyed most of the stories when I considered them individually.

Spotlight on my favorites from this collection (in the order that they appear):

Nicole Cushing's "Yella": Checked every unsanitary box, very difficult for me to get through given my personal compulsions but mercifully very short. Absolutely fantastic character work in such a limited page count, really visceral and physically grounded.

Helen Marshall's "Exposure": Immediately grabbed me with its modern style and the vitality of its (bigoted, judgemental) narrator. Loved the way that it initially demystifies the cosmic locations before bringing all the incomprehensibility back in.

Maura McHugh's "Family": Really interesting weaving of interpersonal dynamics that hits on a lot of the unreliability of the original text. Very solid character voice and grounded set dressing.

Nadia Bulkin's "Pro Patria!": This story has no equal in the collection. Only author to really grapple with the colonial implications of the mythos, horror is frighteningly realistic and I'm fascinated by how the cosmic elements act only as a backlight for the mundane. I'm highly tempted to scan the whole thing in so that everyone can read it.

E. Catherine Tobler and Damien Angelica Walter's "Her Beginning is Her End is Her Beginning": Both authors contributed a story each to the collection on their own, but I didn't like either nearly as much as I liked this one. The jumping put me in mind of This is How You Lose the Time War, and its approach to the power-of-language idea that's so present in Chambers was excellent. Will say however that I was extremely thrown off by the inclusions of real historical figures- that did not work for me. The creation myth it establishes is a high point.

[cosmogenous]

Along the shore the cloud waves break,

The twin suns sink behind the lake,

The shadows lengthen

In Carcosa.

Strange is the night where black stars rise,

And strange moons circle through the skies

But stranger still is

Lost Carcosa.

Songs that the Hyades shall sing,

Where flap the tatters of the King,

Must die unheard in

Dim Carcosa.

Song of my soul, my voice is dead;

Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed

Shall dry and die in

Lost Carcosa.

[hildred-rex]

The waves and clouds break. It is two days at sea. The shadow is getting longer At Carcosa.

Stars appeared in the new dark night; The new moon fills the sky; But we don't know yet The body disappeared.

The song is a song. There he hit the king in the stomach. You will die without knowledge Darkness of darkness

The song was my soul and my voice was dead. Unworthy, die in tears it won't dry out Cocoa is nothing. ". ".

Casilda's song about Croco Rage. Exercise 1. General

The result of putting Cassilda's Song through a couple of rounds of Google Translate.

[nightly-valkyrie]

"Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen     In Carcosa.

Strange is the night where black stars rise, And strange moons circle through the skies, But stranger still is     Lost Carcosa.

Songs that the Hyades shall sing, Where flap the tatters of the King, Must die unheard in     Dim Carcosa.

Song of my soul, my voice is dead, Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed Shall dry and die in     Lost Carcosa."

Cassilda's Song in "The King in Yellow." Act 1.Scene 2.

[theannoyingmosquitoinyourroom]

OMG YESSS i never even considered that!!!!!! i always thought kayne just took the king for the funzies, but ohhh the pain and feelings there would be if the king chose this fate, if he made a deal with kayne just as arthur and john did. he stooped down to their level, not knowing the consequences his actions would have, and he ended up much like john was the first time around. (this assuming i understood your musings correctly that were talking about yellow (or. well. the king))

grr and to think about all the things yellow went through, to think about all the things arthur has forced him to go through, the wys he had punished and blamed him for things he could not remember, but you still had that deep-seated dislike for him, a lingering feeling from that which you have forgotten. a pain you still carry with you (i like to imagine yellow was still in pain) but you cannot see the holes in your body anymore because now there's holes in your mind, too.

"How bad would that sting when he got his memory back? He didn't even want you. He stole from you, he broke your heart, you accepted that, maybe even acknowledged your jealousy, got a little vulnerable and you still get discarded. :(" YEAH EXACLTY!!!!! TO KNOW THAT YOU WERE IN THE SAME PLACE JOHN WAS IN AND YET ARTHUR IS STILL REJECTING HIM AND HE DOESNT KNOW WHY AND HE WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY and ohhh it would be so painful if yellow got his old memories when yeeted back into the dreamlands because he is decidedly not the king anymore but he will forever hold onto the scraps of that, hoping forever that he will be able to return to what he used to be but never, never will it be like that. hes seen what john has seen and hes been rejected, the bitter taste of feeling like he was left out, like a toddler trying to play with the older kids but not being able to fit in, not understanding their throughs and views, the kids outright rejecting him and casting him out for breaking a toy out of anger.

to think that the king will remain there with himself having changed much like john has: hes occupied a new form in space, his angels are all different now, beaten and bruised, and in the foreground there's still the hole that john left, and hes still hurting and he still doesnt understand why. he still doesnt understand, and when he asked john "what did you have to offer? why does he care about you?" and john answered "because i care about him" the king does Not Get It because hes never had to care about something because hes always had everything, never never relied on anyone but himself and so hes never needed to care before, but he knows that if maybe he had stayed longer, maybe if he had just been with arthur a little longer, maybe he wouldve understood, and hes regretful hes never had the chance but also hes scared because what if he could never have that? what if he could never not hurt again? what if he could never care? what if caring is what could save him, but he is incapable of doing it? what would he even care about? he cant care about arthur, because arthur cares about john. what else could he care about that is not arthur? he doesnt know because the only other example of him out there is john and hes only been attached to arthur and so the king doesnt know of anyone else.

to my previous point: "he cant care about arthur, because arthur cares about john." we are well-aware a person can care about multiple people at once, but i like to believe that the king doesnt think that way. the only way of caring hes ever known before this is worship, and from his followers-- and theres only one being you worship to. you cannot possily split your worship between entities because that would be blasphemy and so thats the same lenses through which the king views love. one love for one singular entity, and the only entity he believed he should (and was capable of) love is arthur, but he loathes him so and also hes already given his love away to john. so who else is left for the king? who is there to teach him? and even if there was someone, the king is too proud to let himself be taught by anyone. he would 'shoot himself in the leg' and stunt his progress, and he wouldnt even realize it.

What if the King in Yellow wanted to be whole, not just for power, but bc he missed some kernel of self? What if he made choices out of fear and pain just like anyone else?

[darkersoul]

The Yellow Phantom (1924) is a notable yet obscure German expressionist film, produced mainly in Weimar-era Berlin. The film's director is unknown, having been produced by an independet filmaker seemingly with minimal interaction with any production company. The final release did not include the director's name in the credits.

Despite its small production, the film makes use of impressive sets and special effects to create its dreamlike atmosphere. For instance, during the infamous masquerade scene which closes the film's first act, the titular Yellow Phantom is subtly lifted from the floor, giving the appearance of a spirit gliding just above the ground.

However, it is mainly known not for its sets and practical effects, but its early use of color. Only used sparingly, the color yellow is used throughout the film to represent decadence and decay. How this coloring was achieved is unknown, as the film's visionary production designer was tragically killed in a house fire shortly after its premier. Many of the film's actors and actresses have either met similar fates, or publicly disavowed the film.

Only the first act (of two) remains possible to view today. Much of this is due to suppression by Nazi censors. The film was seen as an affront to every one of the Reich's sensibilities. Meanwhile, in its American release, it was criticized for perceived communist and anti-Christian rhetoric. This is despite heavy cuts made even before its premier in the states.

One scene that has remained viewable to this day is known as "Cassilda's Song." It is the only known musical aspect of the piece. In some showings, singers would be paid to perform it alongside the film and the live orchestra. In this scene, the Princess Cassilda of Yhtill lies on a grand piano, which plays despite no player. She lies limp, her head crooked to the side. She looks almost as if dead. The only motion is her mouth, mumbling the song, and twin suns slowly rising in the bay window behind her.

Efforts to find and restore the film's second act are ongoing, but chances seem slim. What we do know about the missing half is that it contains much of the objectionable content which led to the film's censure. Reviews at the time suggest a powerful message conveyed in this act through, as one German critic put, "the most beautiful, truthful use of symbolism put to film." The second act reprtedly ramps up the dreamlike atmosphere of the first.

Maybe, one day, we'll see this forgotten masterpiece restored to its former glory.

[desertflowerbowling]

malevolent poetry references: season 1

part 4: the voices

this is the first of multiple times that this phrase appears in the show. it appears to have originated from a medieval Persian fable, written by the Sufi poet Attar of Nishapur. the phrase was popularized in the west following an early nineteenth century translation and retelling of the story by Edward Fitzgerald.

part 5: the gift

this is a line from “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by the American poet Robert Frost. it was first published in 1923, eleven years before the events of malevolent.

part 8: the caves

the quotation here comes from “Cassilda’s Song”, a poem written by Robert W. Chambers as a preface to his 1895 book, The King in Yellow, a collection of short stories.

part 12: the end

this isn’t poetry, but it is a notable reference, because it is a quote from H.P. Lovecraft. the full quote is: “The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination.”

[janasarty]

"...Song of my soul, my voice is dead;

Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed

Shall dry and die in

Lost Carcosa."

Cassilda's Song in "The King in Yellow," Act i, Scene 2.

[redacted-metallum]

I like my voice enough for this

[they/them]

[xantdee]

Translated the infamous Cassilda's song to Russian while preparing to run Impossible Landscapes. Everyone is welcome to use my translation if you like it.

О берег бьются облака, Два солнца прячутся в волнах, И тени все длинней в Каркозе.

Созвездий черных странный свет Мерцает странным лунам вслед, Но всех страннее мрак Каркозы.

Струится с неба песнь Гиад, Лохмотья Короля шуршат, Но тишина царит в Каркозе.

Мой голос нем, слова мертвы, Невыплаканных слез следы Засохнут навсегда в Каркозе.