#Opera Palace

[nobuyukikakigi]

新国立劇場におけるヴァーグナーの《トリスタンとイゾルデ》の上演を観て

「闇に包まれた夜の国」から来て、今またそこへ還ろうとしている。深い傷を負ったトリスタンは、みずからの来し方と行く末をイゾルデにこう語りかけるが、その言葉は《トリスタンとイゾルデ》という楽劇そのものを暗示しているようにも聞こえる。チューリヒでのマティルデ・ヴェーゼンドンクとの出会いと、ショーペンハウアーの思想への共鳴のなかから生まれたヴァーグナーの作品を貫くのは、この「夜の国」の翳である。その闇は第二幕の「愛の二重唱」でも触れられるように、恋人たちを隠すと同時に、自他の区別も、個としての生命も溶解させる。それをつうじて一つになることの憧れを、ヴァーグナーの音楽は歌い続ける。 おそらくはこうしたことを踏まえながら、新国立劇場における《トリスタンとイゾルデ》の上演の舞台は、翳を基調としていたのだろう。2024年3月23日の公演における第二幕の終景と第三幕の最初の場面におけるトリスタンの歌に耳…

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Opera House Garnier - Paris, FRANCE

[add1ctedt0you]

"The palace is empty

such loneliness,

putting to vain the wish of Chang'e.

Sleeping in solitude"

[dixiaaa]

I would like to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. For all the warm words I received. I hope everything comes true! 🥰

My Beloved gave me a birthday photo shoot in the palace. Of course in Christine’s wedding dress. 🥰👰🏼‍♀️ I hope you enjoy the results of our work! Here is one of them. ♥️ Please let’s evaluate my makeup done at 6am. Each of us knows that I’m not the best at it, but this time I really like the effect. 🙈🙈🙈

📷: @themrurk

[teamedstud]

23.09.2023

[kate-royal-style-world]

A Royal Recycling (part 297)

Ghost London

[starraseeker]

Minecraft Build Dive-In: European Palace, V2

So, earlier I posted a few screenshots of various Minecraft build projects I've done over the years. Let's explore the build shown in the first screenshot I shared: a sprawling palace in the style of late 17th-century/early 18th-century Europe, particularly inspired by Versailles and the Louvre!

First off, this build is huge. Like, I used WorldEdit's block-count tool on it as it was in the screenshots above (with interior only in a very few places), added together all the blocks that were the same material, and made some cubes of the top three materials that roughly matched the number of blocks. Here's what that looked like:

Like, just those three types of material alone is a staggering volume @.@

Now, on to the juicy details (and more screenshots)!

Like many of my builds, this actually wasn't my first attempt at this concept. That would be this:

While small, less planned-out, and not done quite as well in my own opinion, this first draft definitely helped solidify a few decisions and techniques, such as on-evens symmetry, the use of diorite as building material, andesite as a contrasting material, and green mansard-style roofs.

The build itself had a long and winding road, with a number of things changing and spontaneous decisions made. The gardens, especially, were a tricky concept; eventually I settled on single-height color-banded flower beds with azalea hedges, after experimenting with various other options and patterns (including hedge labyrinths!). The front radiating hedges were a concept from the beginning, but implementing them actually required me to pull out my calculator and do trigonometry to convert angles to block patterns :P

Unfortunately, as with most of my build projects, this one never got finished. In this case, I found that some fundamental design decisions I'd made at the very start were hamstringing me, and if I wanted to fix them I'd essentially have to start from scratch. So, I started prototyping some concepts for version 3 of this build concept:

Hopefully I'll be able to get a proper third version going sometime!

[saigon-song]

Ancien palais du gouverneur de Saïgon

[alightinthelantern]

Boston Opera House, officially Citizens Bank Opera House, is a performing arts theater in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Opened in 1928 as the B. F. Keith Memorial Theatre, a movie palace in the Keith-Albee chain, which became part of RKO just before the theater opened on October 29, thus the theater was known as the RKO Keith's Theater. The theater was designed by prominent theater architect Thomas W. Lamb, and was one of his most lavish designs. In 1965 the Sack Theaters company acquired the theater and renamed it the Savoy Theater. In 1980 the theater closed, but was rededicated and reopened as a home for the Opera Company of Boston formed by Sara Caldwell, which performed there until the opera company closed down in 1990 due to financial problems. The theater was reopened in 2004 after a major restoration, and it currently serves as the home of the Boston Ballet and also hosts touring Broadway shows.

Photo Sources: X, X, X, X, X, X, X

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Palais Garnier - PARIS

[add1ctedt0you]

Head empty, just her

[the-annotated-antichrist]

Act I, Track 13 - The Palace Ball

Song links: Spotify - YT Music - Apple - Tidal

This is going to be a longer post. The Palace Ball, one of the two songs in BA that were composed by Linnéa Vikström, is one of the most musical-like tracks with the most storytelling and characterization. It is full of changes of pace and mood and has a lot of dialogue and... subtext!

Linnéa Vikström photographed by Tim Tronckoe

As the title indicates, this song is about a ball in the palace that Seth, as president and emperor, now inhabits. "Lots of stylish guests are strolling around", the scene description states. "Murmurs and toasting can be heard." An opulent scene. A choir sings:

[Guests:] Light of moon is falling through the evening curtains Glittering when finding jewels, gold and all Strolling in excesses, fancy suits and dresses Raising our glasses to the palace ball

"Elegantly dressed, Helena and Johanna enter the newly appointed Emperor's residence."

[Helena:] Follow me, Johanna Join me in a toast [Johanna:] Not so fast, Helena Where is our host? [Helena:] Over there, I see him Elegance and pride [Johanna:] Let us go to greet him Look into his eyes

Helena, as before, admires Seth. Johanna is suspicious. Given that she is on the lookout for signs of the Antichrist's appearance, that she witnessed Seth's outburst in a church a while earlier and given his sudden rise to fame and power, one can only imagine what she thinks of him at this point. After all, in the Biblical Book of Relevation, the Antichrist rules the world for a while during the End Times...

They walk over to Seth. As guests of honour, they are greeted warmly, although the music sounds tense. Helena probably really wants Seth and Johanna to get along, plus Johanna has considerable influence in the Vatican, so her impression of him is important.

[Seth:] Enchanting, yes it is to meet Madame again Allow me now to kiss your tender little hand [Helena:] Such an honor, Caesar, to kneel here at your feet Next to me, my sister, I wish for you to meet [Seth:] This must be Johanna Your eyes do mine entrance May I have the pleasure to offer you a dance?

This may just be my impression, but Seth comes across as somewhat awkward in this exchange. Would you say "tender little hand" to a woman you (officially) barely know..? And he "offers" Johanna a dance, as if he's doing her a favour..? Seth has come to fame very quickly. He used to be an isolated mystic, probably regarded as a bit of a weirdo. Whether this is intentional on the side of the authors or not - he is trying to be charming, but it seems he doesn't quite get the hang of it so far.

The scene description states that Helena willingly offers her hand to be kissed while Johanna is reluctant. Seth "gets an irresistible impulse" to dance the first dance of the night with Johanna, who hesitates, being "a bit jumpy and resolute". Helena is quite socially fluent, but Johanna, much like Seth, is not at home in this kind of situation. She does agree in the end though and the two dance. The conversation, of course, quickly leaves behind the usual pleasantries.

[Seth:] Like wings you cross the air of our tune As night birds do when tides obey the moon [Johanna:] Deeper is your soul than a waterfall Drowning in your memory of God [Seth:] To dance among the somber shadows Pain shall be the drying sun of every rain [Johanna:] What have you to show? Powers from below Powers that are dangling from a string

The scene description states that Seth is "trying to establish deep contact" with Johanna but that she "rebuffs him politely". I don't know if this really matches the lyrics. Johanna is quite direct and reads him accurately - she sees his past as a Christian mystic in him somehow, but also outright states that his powers are coming from hell. She warns that he can easily lose what he has.

Seth does not agree with her dualistic thinking, he remarks rather light-heartedly (listen to the vocal melody here) that:

[Seth:] Light and darkness are the chords we play Two melodies will find a common way [Johanna:] Listen I will not to this evil plot, Caesar So I thank you for this dance

To Johanna this way of thinking is clearly evil. Seeing light and dark, good and evil, merely as aesthetic choices, as opposites to be reconciled, goes against all her convictions. She says so and leaves. Even though he does not express this in words, Seth is, according to the scene description, quite discouraged to have been rejected and criticized so clearly. He walks onto a balcony while the guests continue their celebration.

[Guests:] Light of moon is falling through the evening curtains Glittering when finding jewels, gold and all The silence is unbroken, a million words unspoken By sleeping ghosts awoken at the palace ball

[spainkitty]

Tranquility and Free Will: After the Shrine of Dumat

tw: death, neither pro nor anti Tranquility, Cullen's PTSD

Lanil's Pieces Masterlist

It was... a much less easy journey back to Skyhold. Harder to joke. Harder to smile. Maddox had shaken Lavellan to the core. It made her remember that conversation with Cullen weeks ago, the lyrium scattered on the ground, templars and mages and Meredith. Seeing Maddox, his Tranquility, his emotionless yet fervent suicide, his faithfulness to a man who had shown him kindness and wanted to destroy the world.

It was... horrifying.

Heartbreaking.

It made her fucking furious.

She sat on the edge of camp a few days out from Skyhold. She could hear Dorian and Cassandra bickering over spices for the stew, Varric humming softly as he cleaned and calibrated Bianca, Cullen whispering to the horses. The usual sounds of each night. She stared up at the stars, watched her breath fog in the air, and told herself not to scream.

To breathe.

Which was made harder when Cullen's whispering ended and his footsteps approached her. He stood next to her shoulder for a long minute. Silent, too. Maybe staring at the stars, too. Maybe trying not to scream, too.

"Sit or leave."

"I didn't want to impose."

"Looming over me isn't imposing?" Lavellan asked dryly.

"Right, I apologize, I'll go--"

"I wasn't angry about Fairbanks. I wasn't even angry about the blasted halla comment, though it was out of line and you should apologize to the halla."

"Apologize... to the halla."

"Yes. There's a ritual for it. You have to find a temple of Ghilan'nain."

"I could... do that."

"And then weave a blanket of spindleweed and fresh spring grass."

"And if it's autumn?"

"You'll have to go to a country that always has spring grass. Or suffer the terrible, crushing disappointment of halla everywhere."

"So, I find a temple, weave some grass and weeds?"

"And then sing to Ghilan'nain a special Elvish prayer while wearing only the grass blanket."

"So I have to be naked."

"Ask Dorian. He knows all about elves singing flowers into bloom while naked."

Cullen huffed and slowly sat down next to her. "You're teasing me, so I guess you're not upset?"

"Of course I'm upset. I'm mad. I've never been so mad in my life." She said it quietly, voice shaking, arms wrapped around her shins. "I'm mad at Samson for dragging Maddox into it. I'm mad at Meredith for... for punishing him like that. I'm mad at you for saying templars serve a purpose. I'm mad at the Circles for existing. I'm mad at the Chantry for what they put mages through, for what they put templars through, for what they allow and keep secret and destroy, with this facade of doing what Andraste wanted. I'm mad at the whole fucking world."

"I... I get that."

"Thank you." She braced her chin on her knees. "More than anything, I'm... I'm sad. He shouldn't have died like that. He deserved so much better than that. But I'm also... I don't pity him. I'm in awe of him. His faith. His determination. His loyalty. He wasn't a puppet, Cullen. He wasn't an empty shell. He shouldn't have died, but I can't pity him. He doesn't deserve that, either."

"In the end, he made a choice of his own free will. I wish it could've ended better. I wish we could've stopped him. But I won't pity him either." Cullen spoke so softly and firmly. Lavellan was filled with rage, with fear, but Cullen. Cullen was hurting for Maddox. It laced through every word, that empathetic pain.

"That could be me."

"What?" The word ripped out of him with so much shock, so much offense. It made her smile.

"Whoever the new Divine is, they could be like all the others. They'll put mages in the Circles. The templars will get their purpose back. They'll remember everything that happened and they're not all you, Cullen. They might not grow out of the resentment or the fear. Mages will die. I could die. I could be made Tranquil. They'll catch me and throw me in. And when they do, will templars be serving their purpose?"

"Lavellan, it's not the same, it'll be different, it'll have to be different--"

"No. It doesn't have to. You've met Vivienne, right? She's a mage that thinks like you do--"

"That is not how I think."

She startled and slowly turned to face him.

"I don't want that to be a templar's purpose. Why do you think I left?" Cullen said. "Everything was about fear. It made me more afraid, more angry, and I had good reason for it. Kirkwall was...  Kirkwall was worse than the Void. But in the end, it was just fear. Fear feeding fear, going in this violent, murderous circle. Mages pushing at limits, templars hurting them for trying, mages becoming blood mages to hurt templars back, templars pouring lyrium down their throats and losing their minds, and mages summoning demons and losing theirs. Everyone trying to hurt everyone else because they were hurting."

"Explains the explosion. It sounds like everything was a bomb waiting to happen."

"I haven't even told you about the Qunari."

"Don't worry, I read Varric's book."

Cullen laughed softly, so softly it shredded into nothing the moment it left his mouth.

"I knew a young woman, a mage, and elf, like you. She was... I thought I'd never met or seen a girl like her. You remind me so much of her that it was hard to separate you in the beginning."

"Su...rano?"

"Surana."

"Ah."

"She passed her Harrowing at 18. I was there, I held a sword ready to cut her down if she failed." Lavellan's fingers clenched into fists. "I'd been to Harrowings before, I never had to, every time it was over was a relief. I never had to use my blade on these people I swore to protect. After hers... she asked... would I have done it? I told her it was my duty, I had to, but I didn't want to. And she laughed and told me it was okay, she knew all along she'd be fine. She was... so bright." He forced the word out, and it sounded like it tore his heart in two.

"Was?" she asked, had to ask, even as she shook and desperately didn't want to know.

"She was supposed to be made Tranquil and I helped her escape."

Lavellan finally moved, finally broke from her curled and defensive position, turned her whole body toward him to stare at his profile.

"What?"

"There were blood mages in the Circle. Everyone was fighting, and dying, and I watched the Tranquils... they were some of the first," Cullen swallowed hard and sweat glistened across his forehead. She should tell him to stop. She didn't have to know. But she wanted to know. "I watched them become abominations at the hands of people that called them colleagues, maybe even called them friends. One of them said, this is uncomfortable. That's it. This is uncomfortable."

"Oh... Mythal..." Lavellan breathed out, filled with horror and disgust.

"The thought of her, that laughing, confident girl, waiting to be become something like that, like them... I let her out. Forced her through a door and used a Templar rune to lock it. She was safe and... and the blood mages tried to use her, my memory and my... my infatuation with her, against me. To break me."

"And so you feared mages."

"I hated them. For a time, I even blamed her. For making me weak. It took me years to realize that of all the sorry bastards they tortured, I was the only one that didn't break. I don't know how much of that was me, and how much was her," Cullen whispered it, stared at his gloved palms, shoulders bowed under the weight despite sharing it.

"It could be both." She hesitantly raised a hand. Let it drop. "But I think it was you." Cullen met her eyes and they sat side by side, everything they've seen and been through and what they could have become lying heavy between them. "People say I'm... indomitable. I have a strong will. But I've got nothing on you. Me? I'm an asshole, I bludgeon my way through problems." Cullen chuckled. "But you? You're kind. After all that, you're so kind. You're... you're the indomitable one."

"I didn't tell you about this for praise, Lavellan."

"Call me Lane, remember?" She knocked her shoulder against his arm. Froze, held her breath; had she pushed too soon?

"Lane."

She released a slow breath of relief. "So why did you tell me? Just... draw it out for me. Pretend I'm stupid."

He laughed at last and she smiled.

"Because I don't want that to be someone's future, forced on them against their will. I want there to be a better way. But I need you to understand why I defend the templars, why they're important. Everyone in Kinloch Hold was at fault, everyone was a monster... even me. But we can't pretend like taking away all protections makes us more free, or absolves legitimate reasons for fear. There will always be abuses of power, and they make people like Uldred and Samson."

"But they also make Maddox."

"Yeah. They also make Maddox."

"It's... not an easy fix," Lavellan scowled. "Which is the understatement of the damn century. Millennium."

"No, it won't be easy," Cullen agreed.

"Do you think I could find it? A fix?"

"You're the one person I believe who can."

"You know... I'm not so angry at you anymore."

"What a relief." His whole body sagged as his sigh gusted from him. "I don't still have to dance naked for the halla, do I?"

"Ass." She bumped his shoulder with her fist, grimacing at the metal she hit. "Double ass. Why are you always wearing armor?!"

He got to his feet, and she moved to follow, taking a brief moment to stretch out her legs. He reached out his hand, and... she glanced up. Carefully, she set her hand in his and let him gently pull to her to feet. He was so damn tall, it hurt a little to crane her neck, but she couldn't look away from his face. From that shy, private smile.

Her hand tightened around his when he tried to pull away. His eyes widened slightly, then something happened to his expression. His eyes grew darker, his smile slipped away, but it wasn't anger. It had her heart thudding.

She remembered, out of nowhere, that moment in Halamshiral. The ground shifting under her feet. It was happening again. When his hand moved to interlace their fingers, their hands hidden by their cloaks and his eyes intent on her face, the ground shifted under her, her knees quaking.

"Do you still confuse me with her?" Lavellan asked, wondering where it came from. Wondering why it mattered.

"No. You are..." He searched for a word and Lavellan shook her head.

"I wasn't asking for praise, either. I just wanted to know I... that I'm just me to you. No one else."

"Lane..."

"I'm sure your conversation is riveting!" Dorian called.

Lavellan and Cullen jerked slightly apart, but not far enough to need to drop their hands. In fact, she couldn't help but hold on tighter. Her heart pounded when his thumb brushed the back of her glove. It felt as intimate as if it had been skin to skin.

"However, this stew is long done and you need to eat it before it overcooks."

"You can't overcook stew," Cassandra said incredulously.

"My dear, you can overcook anything."

"C'mon Shortie, Curly, stop being so serious. We've got a long way to Skyhold yet. Your faces will get stuck like that."

"As opposed to what, looking like yours?" Lavellan asked. Varric scoffed.

"You wish you were as pretty as me."

She grinned up at Cullen. "I think we've got good faces. What do you think?"

"I definitely like yours more than his."

"Good answer."

Just a moment longer, they held on tight. Then, slowly, their hands slipped apart, finger by finger, inch by inch, until they could walk towards the fire without a single bit touching the other. For the rest of the night, she couldn't help staring at his hands.

Wishing she could've held on longer. Wishing that after the maraas-lok, she had managed to get to Cullen's office. Wishing she knew what it was like to wake up next to him with his hand holding hers.

Part I / Part II

[awakenedmaiden]

I'm not sure how many of you happen to know the musical 1776 but I think Satori would see a bit of herself in John Adams. A person that knows within their heart that they're right but that is perceived as obnoxious and annoying even by their friends.

[newvesselpress]

Join us at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York on October 12 to celebrate this absorbing portrayal of a famed author in crisis, revealing a state of personal upheaval at a time of profound societal change that speaks eloquently to our own. https://acfny.org/event/book-presentation-palace-of-flies/

[oddphotos362]