#RE: ROCKSTAR ERA

[sapphiclinos-moved]

how many times are we gonna tie jisung up in a music video and/or point a gun at his head

[onlymywishfulthinking]

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Robert Eggers Count Orlok Backstory: An Overview

Robert Eggers doesn’t want us to know his Orlok’s backstory but I’m a Art History and Heritage researcher and I said challenge accepted. Who was Count Orlok before raising from the grave as a strigoi? And what clues do we have about 16th century Ellen?

[How much research into the period did you do when you were writing the script?] Massive amounts of research. There’s no way for me to fully invest in the world and be able to communicate it to an audience without understanding it to the fullest of my ability. So I did tons of research on my own, and that was put into the script, the dialogue and the style of the language. […] I like building worlds; I enjoy the act of doing it, and I like learning about other eras. I get enough of today today.”

Exclusive Interview: Robert Eggers Re-Visualizes A Classic Vampire in “Nosferatu”

Castle Orlok: all exterior scenes were filmed at Corvin Castle (Hunyadi Castle or Hunedoara Castle) in Romania. This architectural wonder was build Gothic-Renaissance aesthetic, and is one of the largest castles in Europe. The courtyard scenes were filmed inside the castle walls of Pernštejn Castle in the Czech Republic.

“And the overall look was to establish Orlok as a once-real person with a life, with money, with wealth, with entitlement, with attitude.”; “But with Orlok, Robert was always very, very clear that he is a Transylvanian Count from around 1580 […] at the time that Orlok would have been a young, vital, you know, “I’m a sexy, handsome, gorgeous, rich beyond belief man.” Linda Muir, costume designer; “How Robert Eggers Added Rockstar Mystique to “Nosferatu”; “Nosferatu - Interview with Costume Designer Linda Muir

Casting [Bill] Skarsgård as the hideously ancient, mustached, layered-with-prosthetics Count Orlok was about keeping the demon sexy. “It was important to have a young, beautiful person underneath that,” said Eggers, “maybe that’s a good thing for Lily-Rose [Depp] but there is something seductive in this powerful figure. Bill’s a good actor. But Orlok, before he was dead, was probably a handsome guy, a harsh face, but a beautiful face, too.”; “To have the attraction to this figure… I think he was probably a beautiful man at some point, but now he’s covered in maggots,” the director said. “That’s interesting to me.” ‘Nosferatu’: How to Make a Robert Eggers Movie, with Help from Mel Brooks and Chris Columbus; Nosferatu director needed Bill Skarsgård’s vampire to look like a creepy corpse

In my in-depth analysis of this topic on my blog, I mention this; I’m perfectly aware Robert Eggers said his Orlok was 55-years old at the time of his death, but, I’m taking that information with a grain of salt, actually. That was definitely his first idea back in 2016, but casting an actor in his 30s and the costume design tells me he changed his mind. He’s also being very secretive about his Orlok backstory, and he's very invested in historical accuracy. A 55-year old man in the 16th century wasn’t “young” in any way, shape or form. He would be an elderly man, living past European life expectancy rates (30-40s). Him having white hair in his current state isn’t an indication of his age, either, because decomposition removes pigment from hair.

This is most likely how Count Orlok would have looked like at the time of his death, when the dawn begins to remove the decay from him (symbolizing the curse of Nosferatu is being lifted).

With the analysis of Count Orlok’s iconography (sigil; coat of arms; appearance), historical context and set design (world building), the conclusion is that Robert Eggers really took “Renaissance man” to the next level with this character. Orlok being a “16th century warlord occultist” is a very simplistic way to put it. He was a sorcerer-warrior, a Solomonar enchanter, an alchemist, a occult scholar, and a count with feudal and military responsibilities.

Robert Eggers has revealed his Orlok is an old soul, predating the Roman Empire, he’s of Dacian origin (ancient people of nowadays Romania and parts of nearby countries); has known reincarnation throughout the centuries (at least two we know of: ancient times and 16th century);

He’s of Székely ethnicity (Hungarian), and his castle/county is located in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. The independence of the Székelys lords was granted in exchange for military service to the Hungarian kings;

Somewhere in his life he studied at the Solomonărie school (germanization Scholomance), an underground school in the Carpathian Mountains, to become a Solomonar. Eggers is using a academic thesis which links the folkloric Solomonari with Zalmoxis cult. In this story, Orlok learned from a reincarnation of Zalmoxis the secrets of life and death, and immortality, alongside magic, mysteries of nature, the language of all living things, control the weather and “ride dragons” (Solomonari weathermaker or Dacian cloud traveler). As his final assignment to become a Solomonar he had to copy his entire knowledge into a “Solomonar book”, which would become the source of his power (the Solomonari codex of secrets we see in the film);

Why he became a Solomonar is one of two options; either he was attracted to them because of his Dacian origin (Zalmoxis was the main deity of the Dacians) or he was chosen (in some legends, a old Solomonar chooses boys to become Solomonari and be trained at the school);

His occult interests involved Solomonar-Zalmoxis cult, Sex Magick and Enochian magic (angels and daemons);

He lived during the Ottoman rule of the Balkans, and since Transylvanian nobility has led some rebellions against the Ottomans he probably was involved in some of these wars;

His historical Slavic hairstyle, might indicate some sort of affiliation between Orlok and the Ukrainian Cossacks. He might have made contact with them during war time, since they were involved in many conflicts against the Turkish and Tatar invaders in Moldavian territory (Eastern Carpathians), during the 16th and 17th centuries;

He was involved, in some way, in the religious turmoil of Protestants vs. Catholics in Transylvania in the late 16th century. Probably used a Protestant facade to practice his true “religion” (Paganism);

He was “demonized” as a “Devil worshipper” (unclear if during his lifetime or after his death);

Did he got caught up in the witchcraft accusations and executions paranoia in Transylvania in the 1580s? The rats symbolism might indicate he did;

Died somewhere in the 1580s or 1590s. Most likely cause of death was by suffocation; hanging, drowning or strangling.

In the script, we have two of Count Orlok’s contemporaries mentioned: Henry Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (one of the most famous occultists in Europe in the 16th century) and Dr. John Dee (Enochian magic; the incantation Professor Von Franz performs to compel Ellen to speak, as he conjures both angels and demons). Both who got into legal trouble because of their occult pursuits. As did many figures across the 16th century; which saw the birth, imprisonment and execution of scientists, scholars and occultists who defied the supremacy of the Church.

The Countess: Orlok and His Wife

He was married and had a family; both present in the set design: multiple sarcophagi in the castle crypt and the bedroom he attacks Thomas (which he selected for him in advance).

What happened to Orlok’s family? His entire castle seems to be “frozen” in time. The furniture present all belongs to the Medieval period and early Modern era, which seems to indicate no “modern” occupation. While many noblemen kept family heirlooms, rich nobility families did “updated” their castle furnishings to symbolize wealth and social status. This castle is the center of a county, which is not only fully deserted by the 19th century (when Thomas gets there), but appears to have been for a very long, long time. Thomas did not hallucinate the furniture, which tells us the castle was left as it was since the late 16th century. Orlok’s family either died around the same time or pack up and left.

At the prologue (based on the novella Robert Eggers wrote about his characters backstories), we have sexual pleasure (masturbation), and Ellen and Orlok associated with a garden of lilacs. It was confirmed by Linda Muir, the costume designer, that lilacs remind Orlok of his human life, and also connect both these characters (visual storytelling). This establishes Orlok as symbolic of nature in Ellen’s character arc (while Thomas represents society). But we have Orlok’s top secret backstory inspiring the prologue; and they also symbolically return to their garden of lilacs at the end; which indicates Orlok and 16th century Ellen had a connection with a garden of lilacs somewhere, with implications of sexual encounters involved. Since 19th century Ellen swears herself to Orlok in this garden, maybe he proposed to her (marriage) in a similar setting in the 16th century, too?

Most 16th century nobility marriages were arranged, and made with the purpose of political alliances. A minority of noblemen did marry out of love, but this was extremely rare and not the common practice. Marriage was considered to be about companionship, but many arranged noble marriages eventually turned out to be successful and evolved into love. Either way, this last option was Orlok’s and 16th century Ellen’s case. Orlok will hold on to her heart-silver locket and treasure the lilac scent on it (Olfactory memory), in association to romantic and sexual memories (as he bitterly says to Thomas he’s fortunate in his love; and he asks Ellen to remember how they once were after she accused him of not being able to love).

Then we have Ellen mixing up her 16th century incarnation with her current 19th century one. She’s absolutely certain Orlok took her as his lover “then” (even though he was no more than a shadow at her window during her teenage years), including some sort of sex dreams (which Orlok, being a strigoi, could never compell her to have, he can only create nightmares, terror and fear in his victims). We also don’t know for how long have these dreams have been “plaguing” Ellen because the first time she actually saw Orlok (his physical appearance) was the night before this scene, at the Harding household.

Ellen labeling her and Orlok as “lovers” can indicate these two were romantically and sexually involved before any talk of marriage, in the 16th century. While this was highly scandalous and frowned upon throughout History, it wasn’t so rare as one might think. Many brides were already pregnant by the time of their weddings.

Then we have the "possession scene", where Orlok possesses Thomas when Ellen is starting to "remember", which gives us more clues to what sort of couple they were: "You could never please me as he could."

Then we also have the “public” and “getting caught” theme going on between these two. Ellen’s father caught her masturbating, and she has a “hysterical fit” in public after seeing Friedrich and Anna Harding (the mirror pair to Ellen and Orlok) displaying sexual desire in public (“Friedrich, in public?” / “I cannot resist you, my love”). During this scene Ellen has her hand on her hat mimicking Friedrich’s, and the pattern on Anna’s dress is also the same as Orlok’s mente cloak coat; to really drive home this connection.

Now, this will be wild speculation from my part, but since Robert Eggers did tons of historical research, I might have discovered his inspiration for these “public” or outdoors rendezvous, and it’s a 1545 court case in Transylvania; between a father who claimed a man sexually assaulted his daughter (pregnant out of wedlock); while the man claimed they were lovers for five years at that point; with several witnesses to this fact. From the woman’s part, after the graphic details of her sexual encounters with this man in a grain field (which also involved masturbation) were described to the jury, her only remark was that she did nothing wrong. From a historical perspective, these things are not easy to analyze and that’s the conclusion the author of the paper comes to, and I won’t waste time here explaining the complexities of this. If was truly a sexual assault case or if they were lovers and the father opposed to the union.

If Orlok and 16th century Ellen were going at it in a garden of lilacs, and someone saw them (like a servant, for instance), no one would say anything about it, even if they weren’t married. Which was apparently the case between the two “lovers” in the trial, until she became pregnant and the father took the case to court. It was unlikely a wealthy count would be taken to court for this kind of thing, especially if it happen during courtship/betrothal period. Either way, Orlok and 16th century Ellen got married, and within marriage every passion was allowed during this time period.

Some historical sex facts about the Renaissance (since this story is so rooted in sex and death):

While 19th century doctors believed women had no sexual desire whatsoever, in the 16th century women were seen as more sexual than men. This was also motivated by patriarchal views, of course, with women being seen as sexual wantons who exhausted their husbands with sexual activity (especially by the church);

While the 19th century declared war on “female sexual pleasure” and “passion” in general (viewing it as the opposite to “love”); in the early Modern era, midwives believed both male and female orgasms were necessary to produce a child;

The Protestant Reformation (16th century) brought some changes in how sex was perceived within marriage. While Catholics saw sex as a sin and a necessary evil to have children, Protestants saw marriage as salvation from sexual sin. The Reformation encouraged ideas of marital love, mutual pleasure and desire, and sex as an enhancement of marriage. Although moderation was still advised, and premarital sex was condemned, sex became a key element of the emerging “romantic love” concept, where marriage was based on romance rather than on family interests. This sex-positive attitude started to change during the 17th century;

Wild historical fact: anal sex was common between heterosexual married couples as a way to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and the Church even had to intervene to put a stop to this practice (especially in Catholic countries). Folk medicine (herbs, etc.) was also used to prevent pregnancies.

This cabinet saw things no cabinet should ever see, I bet.

“Memento mori” detail; who skull is this? This also gives me “Hamlet” vibes (Eggers’ father is a Shakespeare scholar and his “Northman” was loosely based on this play). Interestingly enough, we also got a father opposing Hamlet and Ophelia’s courtship.

From her part, 16th century Ellen could still be of "German" ancestry, since the Saxons were one of the main ethnic groups in Transylvania at the time. Which would mean she came from a Lutheran family; establishing another parallel with Anna Harding, who, according to Emma Corrin, comes from a conservative Lutheran background: “Yeah, mine [character novella] was detailed in a way that you weren’t ever going to use that information explicitly in the film. But they were just these sorts of amazing facts. I remember mine saying that she was Lutheran from a conservative household. And there was a whole bit about how Anna meets Friedrich at a ball, and how their eyes meet across the room to this particular piece of music. And Robert put a link to the song in there, and I listened to it a few times and that suggested quite a bit about, I guess, my characters sensibilities. But it was very detailed, and I think that was a nice little flourish.”

Female presence in Count Orlok’s castle:

Photo source: “Putting “authenticity into a legendary vampiric folktale” (SDSA - Set Decorators)

Four-poster canopy bed: this type of furniture was a favorite among European aristocracy in the 16th century, a symbol of wealth and status. Only the highest ranking members of a castle (the lord and the lady) had the luxury to retire to a bed behind curtains, while the staff (servants, knights, etc.) usually slept in common areas. Canopies were used to provide the lord and the lady with warmth during cold months and privacy, and because it was customary for one or two servants to sleep in the room with them. Drapes were rich, heavy and made from luxurious materials, like velvet or brocade. The canopy was often more elaborate and expensive that the wood bed itself. Bed were more than “places to sleep” during medieval and early modern age; marriages were consummated, children were born, postpartum mothers recovered and people die in bed.

Then we have this hand mirror ("looking glass"). Historically, mirrors have always been associated with women. From the 12th century forward, it was fashionable for respectful ladies to use small mirrors as jewelry, around their neck or waist. Which makes a connection to Ellen's heart-shaped silver locket from the 19th century.

During the early Modern era, mirrors were small in size (enough to reflect the owner's face), typically handheld, and portable and convenient for personal use. These mirrors were often encased in ornate and intricate carved frames (made of wood, metal, precious stone, etc.); these frames were meant to reflect the wealth and social status of the owner of the mirror.

Mirrors were essential grooming tools, to help with personal care before social interactions. Symbolically, mirrors were also connected with spiritual proprieties like divination and the supernatural, and were often used in religious ceremonies and rituals, as portals to communicate with the spiritual realm

Renaissance mirrors

This particular mirror is meant to be used in this setting (chambers), obviously. With this lighting is hard to make out the figures in the gold frame: it was two dragons on the top alongside what seems to be human-like figures, and some decorative flora around the frame.

That's seven years bad luck, mate.

19th century Ellen is associated with mirrors, as we see her standing in front of a mirror, twice:

What kind of couple?

The Protestant Reformation also changed as women were seen, socially: Luther primarily saw women as potential marriage mates and sexual partners, but Calvin defended that women could be indispensable companions and helpmates to the husband. Since 19th century Ellen doesn’t want to be trapped in the domestic sphere, and has a connection to nature, everything seems to suggest her 16th century incarnation shared the same views. Especially when we have “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë as the main inspiration in this story, as Ellen’s 19th century childhood being so similar to Cathy’s.

Make no mistake, women in the Modern era still didn’t had the same rights as we do today, and their lives were controlled by patriarchal authorities (fathers and husbands) as they did in the 19th century. We do have several examples of women who were able to pursue their aspirations due to the support of their fathers and husbands (which they otherwise couldn’t). For his part, Orlok declares love/Thomas/Victorian society is inferior to Ellen because she’s an enchantress, and a medium (“not of human kind”). Him being a enchanter himself, indicates they most likely shared their occult pursuits.

Now I want to bring back the Dr. John Dee inspiration. He had a “work” partner for his spiritual endeavors, a medium called Edward Kelly. Together, they performed several conjuring sessions of angels, spirits and even demons, and developed the Enochian magic system and language (“language of angels”). They were both accused of being necromancers; dabbling in black magic to resurrect the dead.

Which is what we see Ellen doing at the prologue of the film. She also displays tremendous spiritual power, being able to conjure Orlok using words and sexual energy (her “hysteric fits”), while Herr Knock has to assemble an entire ritual room. Professor Von Franz also tells Ellen she could have been a great Pagan priestess, which indicates she probably was. If we go with the Enochian theme here; Orlok could have been a sort of Dr. John Dee, while 16th century Ellen was his Edward Kelly, the medium with the gift to actually communicate with the spiritual realm.

Since Orlok had military duties to fulfill, it was probably his wife who managed the county in his absence; which wasn’t uncommon during this time period. In Transylvania, women sometimes took possession of the family estate in the eventuality of their fathers and husbands’ deaths, too.

What’s the “dark trauma” between Orlok and 16th century Ellen?

I’ve analyzed that topic in other posts:

[bonefall]

Does Wildfur (cat mentioned as having their back broken and dying of lung infection) get any expansion? They're only mentioned once but knowing how bad the family trees are im guessing they've been stuffed in somewhere (plus i love the name)

My DUDE!!!

MASSIVE expansion. GIGANTIC one. ACTUALLY shows up on screen and is an important supporting character, I actually need to re-do this character summary at some point because it leaves a LOT of the new stuff out.

Wildfur is going to show up as an important character in two side stories; Blackstar's, and a brand new novella for Cinderpelt.

Cinderpelt's is just a fun side novella about her friendship with Littlecloud. I don't even really have a message in mind for it. It's just exploring the brief but fascinating era where the Clan cats were trading with BloodClan.

Wildfur gets disabled by a car in that one, and Cinderpelt and Littlecloud put their heads together to invent that mobility device.

I want to show the "evolution" of some technologies as the series progresses, so this is the mobility device that Jessy eventually improves upon for Briarlight!

It helps him overcome a really bad state of depression, which was what was causing him to lay around and catch infection over and over.

In Blackstar's SE, Wildfur's just a friend of Blackstar's.

He's an example of the sorts of cats that TigerClan and Brokenstar would have discarded or given up on. Blackstar's SE is about him sitting with that.

I kinda want him to be the father of Ambermoon through surrogacy. Brightheart and Cloudtail are the bioparents. He just kinda feels like a dude with a punk daughter with a name like that.

He goes on the Great Journey in that mobility device, but needs to be carried at several points.

The Clans aren't going to leave behind the old and disabled like in canon jesus christ. That was super fucked up actually

"Elders are respected and cared for :)" my ASS

In terms of personality;

He's super vain and haughty, VERY proud person. Rockstar vibes.

Takes great care of his hair

Different people take their disability differently, especially when it massively alters your life. Compared to Briarlight, Wildfur actually had an easier time adjusting once his depression subsided.

Unlike Briar, he was never a very active or athletic person.

He doesn't mind being an elder, it means he gets to do whatever he wants and boss apprentices around. Pretty sweet deal tbh.

Campbound activities are more his style. He keeps an extra eye on the kits, likes to help out kitchen patrol. Has a lot to do with flax processing.

[unhappy-day-in-hell]

The Dissection of Hazbin Hotel, Episode One: part 4

Onto the end part, Charlie meeting with the angels and... Vaggie's advertisement.

Let's finish this!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4: //

--Uh. The fuck is this building and why is it in Hell? Are we not going to explain? (Trick question, there’s already so much exposition that it wraps right back around to leaving us in the dark!!)

--Ohhh. That's Adam’s voice? Someone as important as him does not sound like that.

...Stupid thought I just had: Adam has the first Adam's Apple in all of history too... because it's that little saying, that Adam got a piece of the forbidden fruit stuck in his throat to remind him of eating it. So Adam, really, should either sound like he's constantly choking on something/has a stuffed up scratchy throat, or he should have a super deep voice to indicate his adam's apple.

--Heck is wrong with your mouth girl?

--B Plot is them filming an advertisement. I know I tried to re-write this in the review earlier (and will offer an alternative near the end of the review), but this is the kind of smaller-time plot we need to do in these early episodes BEFORE we get to Charlie's stuff. It's not very good tonal whiplash to pair these two plots up.

Also Vaggie’s doing this on Charlie’s behalf. This is, once again, something Charlie should be doing.

--Why doesn’t Charlie know the leader of the Exterminators is Adam? Does that mean she doesn’t know anything important about her world in general? Or is Adam’s presence a secret to the world? Does Lucifer know Adam is here?

--Good god, Adam really IS just Mammon. He's even a performer who is like a rockstar. Viv has zero new ideas.

--We're cutting between Charlie’s "important" meeting with Adam and the filming for the advertisement. We really are. I guess this episode and Western Energy spring from the same source.

--“How were you this weekend” is at least a little amusing. If Adam was more airheaded like that and not *gestures* all this, I’d probably hate his presence less.

--There it is. The Vagina joke for Vaggie’s name. They… they really did that. They just couldn’t help themselves. Viv just can’t help herself.

Because really, what are you supposed to do with this name? People having to say “Vaggie” out loud or print it on merch is embarrassing. They could have called her anything. Maggie. Aggie. Naggie. Saggy. Haggy.

--Vaggie: We’ll fix it in post. Angel: Do you even know what that means?

Well you see Angel! Vaggie’s origin can be split!

For a long time, Vaggie was thought to be a sinner who died very recently, so of course she’d know about editing, because she had grown up in the era of that kind of tech.

Except now she’s been changed to be a fallen exterminator! This means there are a lot of implications. Are we going to use this moment to hint how ANCIENT Vaggie is as a former angel, by showing her as not knowing how to work technology? No, no of course not -- Vaggie seems competent with the camera, it’s just that her actors are dumb fucks.

This criticism spreads over to Adam, who talks just like a “normal guy” and he’s a modern rocker and all that shit. Adam, the first human, who is incomprehensibly ancient… doesn’t show any signs of being as ancient as he is. They couldn't even write him using outdated slang? Make him a disco lover or something and have him say "Groovy?" No? (He IS a thing made of light, he could shine like a disco ball!)

--Vaggie: I’LL FIGURE IT OUT.

Godddd Vaggie can’t have one single line with any life in it. How does she scream in anger with no anger.

--Hi Al. This shot reminds me of why I used to like you, because I DID like your design and your mannerisms once upon a time. I still feel an echo of the enjoyment I used to get from you, and it makes me sad how far you’ve fallen, to being Rosie’s lapdog. You do look good with this muted blue tinting your color scheme. I wish Hell was more of this color, it’s much softer on the eyes.

(Even when I was still a fan, I hated how overused red was. It was one of the first complaints I had. Then the show doubled down and removed even more of the colors from the color pallet to make it even redder.)

--Vaggie to Alastor: Why are you even here? Alastor: For the entertainment!

Actually you’re here because LilithRosie asked you to. She filed down your fangs. You are a toothless character.

--Alastor: I came here because I love seeing wasteful souls struggle to accomplish something meaningful and fail spectacularly!

This is almost exactly a line from the Pilot where Alastor said “I want to watch the scum of the world struggle to climb up the hill of betterment! Only to repeatedly trip, and tumble down to the fiery pit of failure." Except it just. Lacks. Any of the danger. Or the manic insanity boiling just under Alastor’s surface. The delivery is so deflated.

The words are stilted, like they were with Vaggie a while back.

--Much better qualified people than I have spoken about the use of vodou symbols around Alastor. All I can say is this: Practitioners of vodou have spoken about how harmful it is, and therefore, the symbols should not be in the show. It's that simple. It would have cost the team literally nothing to refrain from using them. In fact, we’re in Hell, and we’ve already used the Ars Goetia in Helluva Boss; why don’t they use the symbols of the Ars Goetia? Or other demonic Christian symbols? Or Lovecraftian symbols from the fictional Lovecraft universe? Or make up their own??? There were a million other options besides digging in your heels. It shows the crew and Viv’s inability to just learn or just be nice.

“This face was made for radio!” that shot, bleck, they made a discount of that scary shot from the pilot. Why is every line they reuse for Alastor worse than it was in the pilot? The pilot where Alastor said “I would have done so already” let Alastor be a little aggressive and threatening, but here, it's just him equating it to “this face can’t be captured on video” instead of him being allowed to flex his power and scare Vaggie and Charlie a little bit….

It makes me sad.

--AND AGAIN, THIS IS VAGGIE HAVING THIS IMPORTANT CONVERSATION WITH ALASTOR. Why is it Vaggie who is getting Alastor’s motivation speech and seeing his Scary Face and not CHARLIE!? The Hotel is CHARLIE’S! Charlie is the main character, she’s the one who has to face these moral battles! Alastor’s motivation and his scorn for her Hotel are CHARLIE’S obstacles to deal with; she has to be the one to face them, consider them, debate them, and find a way to overcome them. But Vaggie is the one here, again, in Charlie’s place. (And Vaggie doesn’t even seem to have any enjoyment or passion for the Hotel either, so SHE doesn’t offer anything in return when she’s facing these opposing ideas.)

--So Alastor is going to make a good advertisement for the Hazbin Hotel, in exchange for never having to work with television ever again.

God, it’s so… WHINY. This isn’t a powerful Overlord of Hell, who is able to manipulate the Hotel behind the scenes and everyone has to watch out for his power because they both need his power but also fear it. This is a dude bargaining over what chores he has to do. It’s depressing.

--And it ends with Alastor giving everyone new outfits. Like the pilot. Because of course. Viv has no new ideas in her head at all. Also Charlie's not here.

--I feel like this scene COULD have been a standout moment in another universe, where someone else wrote this story. The colors are very nice, and Alastor is genuinely one of the only sources of ANYTHING you might consider fun in this episode, even if he’s a pale shadow of what he used to be.

Imagine this as a rewrite for this Episode, and how it could have ended:

At the beginning of the episode, the Hotel staff is still figuring things out. They have a meeting and decide they want to make an advertisement to get people to come to the Hotel, but Al refused to take part, because he hates TV. Charlie then tries to film her own advertisement with Vaggie’s help, but fails to make anything good.

As she starts feeling discouraged in the blue room while cutting up tapes, Alastor walks in to taunt her for a little while. After a back and forth where Charlie asks what he even wants here, he gives his motivation speech, so Charlie can have her goal challenged. But eventually, Charlie asks him to use his power to help her with this, by getting the word out to the people of Hell; and Al agrees, because an empty Hotel is no fun… in exchange for something Al wants: he’ll be allowed to observe any part of the Hotel and give commentary over it whenever he feels like it, and he’s allowed to say anything he wants, positive or negative. Charlie reluctantly agrees to these terms.

Then Alastor uses his power and creates a huge radio tower out of the back of the Hotel. The rest of the Crew feel the Hotel shaking and run outside, and watch in confusion as the tower reaches up into the sky. Al then floats up to the top room, where an old radio station is set up inside. Taking his seat in the booth, Alastor uses his power to broadcasts a spectacular old-timey radio show all across the radio waves of Hell, which are impossible for people to turn off, so it reaches millions of them.

(This also marks his grand return to Hell after his time away…… I guess. Since they're going with that.)

Boom, now Alastor has a radio tower that he hangs out in for the rest of the series, and he’s often giving SCATHING commentary about what goes on inside the Hotel in its quest for redemption. It’s usually making fun of everyone, or damning criticism -- but every so often he compliments something or someone, or gives a bravo for a job well done if a character does manage to accomplish something (but it's always with this HINT that he doesn’t expect their victory to last.)

There.

I provided a better hook for Episode One to end on, something fun to look at -- AND it has Alastor being in total control, while still helping the Hotel, but clearly primed to fuck with it. It also gives the show its first stakes -- small ones, but a status quo is established and we know Charlie will be butting heads with Alastor for the foreseeable future.

--Back with Adam and Charlie, it has become an argument that sinners have earned eternal damnation by making mistakes, and angels and the souls in heaven are not the same; and that angels have never made mistakes. Adam even says he’s never made a mistake.

Why doesn’t Charlie bring up the fact that Adam ate the fruit of knowledge that damned humanity, literally the first sin ever committed alongside Eve? Would that require too much thought, because Adam could just say “hey Eve was the one who did that, then she forced me!” and Charlie would have no rebuttal, because this show doesn’t seem to care about logical or moral battles. (Honestly, I can bet Viv would genuinely believe that for Adam.)

Why don’t they also bring up the fact that all human souls are descended from Adam too? It would force Adam to say: “yeah I don’t care, they may be my grandkids but they made their choice and as the original father it’s my job to whoop their asses when they get out of line,” which would show off how horrible he is. (Or, just not have Adam act this way. The next point elaborates on that:)

--I keep asking myself WHY Heaven and the angels have to be depicted this way. Not "why they’re corrupt" -- but why they’re *gestures vaguely* like this, and so cartoonishly.

Some shows take themselves too seriously and need to lighten up, but a show like Hazbin Hotel has the opposite problem, where it won’t be serious when it needs to be serious.

Adam acts exactly like a demon. There is no distinction between demons and angels. They’re as foul-mouthed, raunchy, and gross. Why?

Is it supposed to be “commentary” or “satire” about real world issues, where authority/radical Christians think they’re better than everyone else just by virtue of being Christian? That’s my first guess.

But just like with Helluva Boss’s commentary on cartoonishly evil abusers: it’s not saying anything we don’t already know, and it hits you with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face.

When Hazbin uses Adam to say “See? Heaven is hypocritical! It does the exact same bad shit as Hell, but gives ITSELF a pass!” it makes Hazbin Hotel worse for it, because of how one-note it makes literally everything in the universe, and how it sacrifices any actual clever worldbuilding, storycrafting, or realism for the sake of shock value. 

Hazbin Hotel is supposed to have a serious storyline meant for adults. It was meant to explore a serious moral question, and the angels are supposed to be one of the serious threats that Charlie has to change the mind of. You want us to take your show SERIOUSLY? Then you need to make villains we can TAKE seriously.

Think of it like this. If Heaven was allowed to have a different personality from Hell (if angels were allowed to act differently than demons), you’d be so much better for it.

First of all, it would give the show variety. Hell already has all the sex jokes, curses, and gore you could ever ask for – that’s Hell’s atmosphere. So let Heaven have a different atmosphere -- let its people has "serious" personality traits. Let them take themselves TOO seriously. That way, there’s some variety when characters go from one place to the next.

Second of all, it would give you way more personality types to play around with! (How boring must it get, writing the same screaming, cursing, sex-spewing archetypes over and over?) AND it would let different temperaments clash! Imagine Angel Dust meeting an Exterminator; Angel Dust makes everything a joke, and the Exterminator takes everything way too seriously, aaaaaand their personalities slam into each other. Imagine the possibilities.

But we can’t have that.

We can’t have anything because Viv can’t let herself be sincere or think this far ahead.

Instead we’re just stuck with Adam, who is Mammon.

--Lute says Charlie was “pardoned by daddy”? Who?? Lucifer? If Lucifer has the ability to blacklist souls from being killed, why can’t he just tell the exterminators to fuck off? Or are they referring to “God” as daddy, for which, I thought they weren’t going to touch God in this show?

The dialogue for this show is confusing. There was clearly no editing or rewriting to make anything make sense.

In the old pilot continuity, only an angel of higher rank had the ability to kill Lucifer, which means the exterminators were unable to kill him. Charlie, as his daughter, was directly below him in power, meaning Charlie would also be immune to them because she's stronger than them. But here apparently she's weak enough that the exterminators not only COULD kill her if given the chance, they WANT to kill her but have to hold back by some... law.

--Another song. Okay.

My opinion is that Brightman is a good singer, and this song definitely has more going on than the first one did. So… not terrible… but there’s also something missing in these lyrics. The way the music flows isn’t interesting and it goes by so fast. And Adam’s voice isn’t grating or terrible to listen to, but his dumb rockstar voice just kind of clashes into Brightman’s singing voice every so often, and makes it sound weird to me.

I could do without.

--OOH LAWD SHE ABOUT TO GO OFF. (That meme will never stop being funny. The shot is so tame. She doesn't even get to do any flexing or anything?)

--They’ll be back in six months?? Oh right, ahem, ahem: We’re putting this into EPISODE ONE? (I’m getting tired of saying that.)

Side note: they better not blame Charlie for this one, or try to make it out like she did something to cause this. Because... She literally didn’t. She didn’t get a word in edge-wise. (If they blame Charlie for making Hell worse, not only is it another Potential Dramatic Plot Moment they waste here, where Charlie would legitimately do a fuckup and have to face the consequences of her actions and it’s Oooh Drama -- it’s also totally unearned here, because Charlie Didn’t Do Anything. Literally if this is supposed to be “Charlie’s Mistake”, she didn’t do anything to MAKE A MISTAKE. )

--Alastor: I pulled a few LIMBS too, Hah hah hah!

Now you sound dead Alastor. I miss your fast-paced deranged laughter.

--To hear Blitzo’s voice coming out of Katie. Not even for a joke. I just. Vomit.

--(Quick question, is it just me or does it feel WEIRD to see Hell freaking out about the exterminations happening sooner, the way it is now? I mean, it’s a bad thing of course – but at the same time, it’s 6 WHOLE months away. That’s still a very long time; it’s not like the angels said they’d be coming in 1 WEEK or anything.

And again, moving the Extermination up to the mid-point of the year COULD have been a good plot punch a few episodes in – if the show had established itself as having a one year time limit before the next extermination, for instance, and for the first season we watch the weeks or months go by. The cast think they’re safe because they always have more time; “the year isn’t even half over yet.” But THEN, Charlie fucks up a few months in, and suddenly the date of the extermination is moved up!! WE ONLY HAVE A MONTH LEFT!! SHOCK AND HORROR. THERE IS MUCH LESS TIME NOW. HOW CAN WE DO THIS IN TIME!? PANIC! STAKES! DRAMA.

Makes my poor writer heart sad.

Imagine if we lingered on the Exterminations for a while before all this, and we learn that every single year, it takes about 3 months worth of planning in order for Sinners to secure hiding spots away from the Angels (a play on the three big holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). This is CRITICAL for Sinner survival; those who can't or don't are the ones who die, and spots are so competitive that it takes all that time for anyone to secure themselves. So when Charlie fucks up midway through the year and causes the Extermination to be moved up to just 1 month away, NO ONE IS SAFE, and there isn't enough time for three months of prep, which is why everyone flips their ever-loving shit: they know they're going to die and now there's a hysterical scramble all throughout Hell trying to secure safe spots.

--The ending shot shows an exterminator dead, and the angels out for blood about it.

Again, ahem-hem: EPISODE ONE.

And now, the Exterminators don’t even feel threatening -- because we know they can be killed.

What made the angels scary, originally, is that they were virtually untouchable. Demons could not defeat them, and angels could kill any demon they wanted to by default. (Even Alastor seemed to be weaker than the angels.)

The angels should have been a looming, impossible-to-defeat threat (at least for a while). This would have given the story tension, because the audience would know the sinners stood no chance if they ran out of time or failed to convince the Angels – it was a battle of MORALITY. It was a challenge for sinners to prove to Heaven they were redeemable, because Heaven held all the power.

They de-clawed their villains in their introductory episode.

…

Do Adam and the Exterminators even HAVE the authority to enact a full genocide??? Wasn’t there a “council of Angel Elders” mentioned in the beginning? Aren’t the exterminators just assigned to this post, and meant to keep the population low??? Won’t they get in trouble for overstepping their bounds!? ARE WE GOING TO GET ANY EXPLANATION AS TO HOW THE HIERARCHY WORKS OR HOW HEAVEN WORKS FIRST!? BEFORE WE GET INTO THIS!?!?

AAAAAAAAAAAAND ~CURTAINS!~

………………………………………………………………………

And that was the end of Hazbin Hotel Episode One.

…

So! What have we learned here today?

My personal takeaway is that, even though it’s cathartic to see this all start to go down in flames, I still feel disappointed and frustrated because of how much time I invested in it, even defended it to other people for a time. I'm frustrated because none of it had to be this bad. Viv didn't have to be evil. There was promise and potential, once upon a time.

Quite frankly, we were lied to. The premise that everyone fell in love with was dumped in the trash. For over four years, we were told this would be a story about redeeming sinners -- that’s what fans put so much of their time and money into. But that premise was discarded immediately, in favor of a generic War Against Heaven. Viv LIED to us, knowing from the start that the redemption storyline was never going to go anywhere.  

I just wonder how many resources were wasted creating this, how many people Viv hurt, how many opportunities were handed to Viv that could have gone to anyone else more deserving of it.

There wasn’t a single worthwhile thing in this episode. A handful of individual shots here and there were passable, but nothing enough to sit through it. Abysmal animation, pacing, storytelling, dialogue, voices, songs; characters that were flat and unmemorable, or stripped of what made them unique.

Charlie wasn’t the main character in her own show -- Vaggie was the one dealing with the morality of the other characters. (And frankly, Charlie didn’t NEED to meet with Adam. It accomplished nothing. If the angels had already decided to do the extermination in 6 months; they could have just done it, they didn’t necessarily NEED to meet with Charlie to enact it.)

Somehow, Hazbin found a way to do everything wrong!

This show should be taken as a lesson on what not to as an artist. (Any kind of artist, really.) 

In my opinion, the greatest weakness of this show is its inability to write anything sincere.

(And there’s a difference between something having sincere emotion, and melodrama, which Viv dumps in boatloads in her writing.)

I won’t re-write it all, but I basically mean what happened with Adam and the angels, where they aren’t allowed to be any different from the demons. They aren’t allowed to be serious, wise, ancient; because Viv CAN’T write them as sincere. (But this also includes so many other aspects of this show and this world as a whole.)  

(And its genre doesn’t shield it. Hazbin Hotel is trying to tell a STORY, so it doesn’t get to hide behind the genre of being an “episodic adult comedy”. It HAS to follow the rules of storytelling, and when it doesn’t, it is failing.)

And Hazbin Hotel is just one giant failure.

With that, I’ll wrap this up. I think I’ve said all I want to.

I don’t know if I’ll review any other episodes like this (or, if they’ll be this long), because they get worse and worse; and Episode 4 is such a serious, disgusting episode that I don't know if it's even worth it -- but I REALLY wanted to get my thoughts down for this one.

If you read it all, thanks for sticking around! It was fun to rip it apart.

If you have any thoughts you want to add onto this, I’d love to hear!

[inthedarknessofnight]

I’ve recently re-entered my Jeff Buckley hyperfixation (jk i never left lmao) but i’m also permanently in my Steddie brain rot era, so how about this

Rockstar Eddie has been on a steady rise to stardom over the past few years. Unfortunately, it’s proven to be more than a small-town boy like him has ever bargained for, and he’s been having a hard time dealing with everything. So he packs up his shit and moves from New York to Memphis, in hopes of finally making some good music. After a few incredibly productive months, his band joins him there and they actually manage to record a bunch of amazing tracks. One night after a long day of recording, Eddie and Gareth end up going down to the riverbank for a much-needed break and some inspiration. They’re just messing around, cracking jokes, and Eddie somehow ends up stripping down to his boxers and wading into the water, screaming Dio’s Holy Diver at the top of his lungs. Gareth doesn’t notice Eddie getting pulled under until it’s too late. Only… Eddie doesn’t die. He’s found by Steve, a seasoned lifeguard, who’d been out walking his dog a few miles downstream. Steve, having no clue whatsoever who Eddie is, resuscitates him and carries him over to his house so the poor guy doesn’t get hypothermia. Eddie wakes up just as Steve’s about to call an ambulance and basically begs him not to tell anyone.

Of course, they end up falling in love during those few weeks Eddie spends hiding at Steve’s, and it’s like, suddenly, music feels as easy as breathing again. So he writes a bunch more songs, reveals himself to the people who matter, Gareth is made frontman of Corroded Coffin and they become one of the most famous bands on the planet, while Eddie and Steve move to a cute little cottage off-grid… And everyone lives happily ever after!

[thepoopdokyeomtouched]

HI!!!!

dude sajda karaan>>>

ik this is random but there's only so many desi blogs on tumblr and you seem like a really cool person idk

BRO WHAT OTHER BOLLYWOOD SONGS DO YOU LIKE BECAUSE YK THE 2000S SONGS LIKE DESI GIRL, BREAK UP SONG, MAKE SOME NOISE FOR THE DESI BOYZ ALL HIT SO HARD

(this is my somewhat subtle way of asking if you wanna be moots?)

OH DAMN WE ARE GOING THERE!?! Ok lets get in it

Starting of from old bollywood

Maine poocha chand se

Bahon mai chale aao

Chura liya hai

Aaj mausam

Lag ja gale

Pehla nasha

These are my favorite 90's songs 😭

Then 2000's

Piyu bole

Tu hi re

My dil goes hmm

👏🏻RHTDM👏🏻 THE WHOLE ALBUM IS MY SOUL EVEN THE RAIN SCENE FLUTE TUNES 😭😭😩😩😩💗💗💗💗

Suno na suno na

Main yahi hoon

Hosh walon ko khabar kya 😩🤌🏻

Kabhi khushi kabhi gam, the whole album 🤭💗

Falak tak

Lazy lamhe, ab to forever, hey shona, ladki kyu, chhalka, saathiyaan, chupke se 😭🤭💗

----NOW THE GOLDEN ERA OF BOLLYWOOD---

Starting with kk's songs : Tu hi meri shab hai, soniye, abhi abhi, beetain lamhe, dil ibaadat, kya mujhe pyaar hai, labon ko, tujhe sochta hoon, zara sa, haan tu hai, oh meri jaan, mat aazma , humko pyaar hua and more ☝🤓

Then Mohit chauhan : the whole ROCKSTAR album like hello?!?! Tujhe bhula diya , masakali, kuch khaas hai, khoya khoya, rabba, IS THIS LOVE, DOORIYAAN, bheegi si bhaagi si, abhi kuch dino se, TUMSE HI, tune jo na kaha and my ultimate fav PEE LOON

My fav artist kk, mohit chauhan, javed ali, sonu nigam, shreya ghoshal, monali thankur, nikita gandhi, sunidhi chauhan , MITRAZ, Vilen, darshan raval, arijit singh, jubin nautyal, asees kaur, shaan, neeti mohan, armaan malik, pritam, vishal shakher, ar rehman, ayushmaan khurana and so many more

Then all emraan haashmi songs 😭 pee loon, tuhi mera, hosaana, tum mile(the whole album 🔥) saibo, I hate love stories (whole album), ek break ke baad, uff teri aadat, hey yeah, tum tak, ranjhaana, rishte naate, paani da rang , soniyo(raaz), AASHIQI 2 WHOLE ALBUM 😩, tera hone laga tu, aajao tamanna, ek din teri raahon mai, hum tum, tere liye(prince), o bekhabar,, sawar loon, JAB TAK HAI JAAN 👺, allah maaf kare, rabba mai to marr gaya oye, mera mann, mann mera, baatein kuch ankahi si, tera chehra(adnan sami), MAULA MERE MAULA, deewana kar raha hai, oh my love, khyaalon mai, guzarish, tose naina, raabta, chori kya re, dagabaaz re, sanam re, gazab ka hai ye din, moh moh ke dhaage, ishq risk, ANJANA ANJAANI(THE WHOLE ALBUM ⚰️, ye tune kya kiya, halka halka, tere naina, ishq bulawa, THE BEST IKTARA, KYA KAROON, WAKE UP SID.

I have a whole sensual playlist romantic, sad, dance, I'M CRAZY ABOUT IT 😩😩😩😩

Even pops like "blam the nights, oh gujariyan, subha hone na de, lat lag gai, lucky boy(bachna ae haseeno is also a DOPE ALBUM🔥😩) , ladies vs ricky bahl, baand baja barat's ayyvien ayyvein, dum dum, aadha ishq, aa zara and so many 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

And OF COURSE WE ARE FRIENDS NOW (moot is so weird for a hindi speaker me yk🤓)

[nalyra-dreaming]

a couple of interesting things on that latest panel re: the current status of Lestat... Sam claims that in the first 2 seasons, there isn't even a moment where we see the "real" Lestat. Do you think that means we won't even catch a glimpse of him in the modern era? Maybe the most we'll get is some kind of hint that he's around, but his story won't properly start until season 3 kicks off? The other thing I noted was Rolin saying it was Sam's harlequin rehearsal that made him realize he was going to have to do rockstar!Lestat. So I guess that plotline wasn't part of his original design and we can (probably!) rule out rockstar Lestat being actively incorporated into this season, either in the 80's or the present? I know we have to take what they say with a pinch of salt, but I seriously hope we get more than just a vague hint of present-day Lestat this season!

Mhhhh.

So for one I would like to note, that for me the story started with episode 1, and in a quite the ingenious way, because the POV and memory angle allows for a very messy dive into the POV angle of the books. I mean, we literally can dive into emotions and manipulations of other characters there... I love that.

As per Lestat being there in Dubai... I had hoped for Lestat to be there in episode 8, but given that episode 8 apparently ends in a cliffhanger... it might be ending with the elevator pinging *snickers*

IDK. I think what Sam is trying to say there is that we cannot have seen the "real" Lestat yet, because of the POV angle - the only "real Lestat" we'll see will be on that couch in Dubai - I mean, his own POVs will also be colored by his perception. I bet it will be up to the audience to correlate that with what they see in Dubai, and then go from there.

As per that rockstar comment - I think that was a) tongue-in-cheek because I don't think you can just skip that part and b)... it was praise.

Rolin is very sly. And sometimes he puts his foot into his mouth, like we all do. And they don't want to spoil.

But yeah, rockstar Lestat was never to be in this season, imho. And even if, then only in flashbacks, but I see them more in s3 or 4.

But I think he was always planned as having happened. Remember Armand's comment re the "mediocre star"? I STILL think that was a jab towards Lestat's little rockstar career, because he was a "mediocre star one hit wonder" there. :)

[mmunson86]

Sister Sav! I am telling you ! This right here lordt have mercaaaaay! This oozes rockstar Eddie & Oli is an added bonus that is one gorgeous man!

I am begging all of my modern day /Rockstar Eddie Munson girlies please please watch this & if it gives you any inspo to write a one-shot / series / mini-series of rockstar eddie x f!reader i beg you tag me i will devour it all!

I dont think i can ever move on from this man, i love all my Eddies , rockstar Eddie just has me in a chokehold 🥹💗

[sapphiclinos-moved]

jeongin being the first to swear in a song when you have two australians right there is so fucking funny. fair play 3racha

[diariodeltrompetista]

El bolero de Pedro (segunda parte)

Naima había estado casada con un director de cine, algo de lo que prefería no hablar. Se casó muy joven, él era mucho mayor, y las cosas terminaron tan mal que dejó Brasil sin que nadie lo supiera. Se refugió en casa de una prima en Italia, donde se escondió del mundo. Su cuenta de Instagram no mostraba una sola foto suya, un detalle que dejó a Pedro aún más inquieto aquella noche. Alargaron la velada hasta donde pudieron. Cuando el vino se acabó, ella le ofreció un café. Él lo tomó como la señal de que la despedida estaba cerca.

Durante el día, cada uno hizo su propia investigación. Pedro no encontró rastro de Naima, pero ella desenterró todo sobre él. Entrevistas, escándalos, una lista interminable de romances y chismes. Todo un rockstar latino. Durante ese día Pedro no dejo de imaginar que ella estaba leyendo sobre el, por primera vez, no se sintió orgulloso de su fama. Algo dentro de él se torció, como si su nihilismo hubiera perdido brillo.

A las seis de la tarde, pasó por el bar donde trabajaba Naima. Quiso parecer despreocupado, fingir que no estaba demasiado interesado, pero sus intentos de flirtear resultaron tan torpes que casi podía verse a sí mismo como una vaca jugando rayuela. Ella, por el contrario, tenía gracia hasta al respirar. La manera en que lo miró, cómo ajustó el cuello de su camisa cuando lo vio, o el roce de su mano al dejarle una cerveza… Pedro nunca había sentido algo así. Era un ratón feliz en la boca de un gato.

—¿Quieres que te espere? —le preguntó, casi sin voz.

Ella sonrió. —Salgo tarde, a las dos.

Aquella sonrisa fue todo lo que Pedro necesitó. La esperaba como si cada minuto importara.

Pedro siempre sobrepensaba. Se imaginaba las situaciones más extrañas, como un niño jugando con piezas que no encajaban. Su música venía de esos lugares, de conversaciones con los muertos o con objetos que no podían hablar. Cada vez que bebía o se drogaba, solo quería silenciar esa parte de sí mismo. Su ansiedad lo devoraba, y aunque parecía estar en forma, era solo porque comía poco y sus genes le favorecían. Habían pasado tres días sin meterse nada por la nariz, y por alguna razón tampoco quería beber esa noche. Por cada cerveza, tomaba dos vasos de agua. No paró de escribir en su libreta y de ir al baño.

A las dos de la mañana, Naima volvió sin el uniforme del bar. Se acercó a su mesa, le puso las manos en los hombros y le susurró: —Ya está.

Pedro se escurrió en la silla. —¿Qué escribes? —le preguntó, señalando la libreta.

—Nada bueno —respondió, nervioso, mientras la guardaba. Intentó escribir algo para ella, pero lo único que le salían eran cursilerías que le daban risa. Nunca escribía sobre el amor. Su música siempre era un enredo de juegos armónicos y matemáticos, con secretos escondidos entre las notas. A veces lo comparaban con Radiohead, pero con percusión latina y metales. Pensó en eso mientras cerraba la libreta y sonrió.

Naima lo tocó en la mano de nuevo y dijo: —Quédémonos un rato.

Los camareros solían quedarse después de cerrar, festejando entre ellos. En las horas que siguieron no pararon de hablar. A Naima esto le asustaba un poco. Entonces, una canción que Pedro no conocía comenzó a sonar.

—¿Qué es esto? —preguntó.

—Es “Gigi”, una de mis canciones favoritas de Fabio Concato —respondió Naima con una sonrisa. —Esta versión tiene a Julián Oliver en el piano y a Fabrizio Bosso en la trompeta.

Pedro no sabía mucho italiano, pero Naima, leyendo su mirada, empezó a traducir. La letra hablaba de Fabio en su infancia imaginó Pedro, un niño que añoraba a su padre, y mientras escuchaba, recordó al suyo. Lo imaginaba con su guitarra, en esos recuerdos que más bien eran inventos de una infancia que nunca tuvo. Tomó la mano de Naima, aferrándose a ella como quien teme caer al vacío en un avión y se agarra del desconocido a su lado en busca de alivio. Cuando empezó el solo de trompeta, Pedro respiró profundo, tratando de no romperse. La música lo mantenía a flote.

La canción continuó, y Naima le seguía traduciendo:

Dimmi dove sei...Canto Fabio casi gritando...

¿Dime donde estás? tradujo Naima...

Suoni ancora ma per gli angeli... Cantó Fabio...

Tocas ahora para los angeles... dijo Naima

Pedro apretó la mano de Naima más fuerte esta vez. El hombre en la canción ya era adulto, y ahora se intuía que el padre había muerto. Fabio cantaba con un lamento que atravesaba a Pedro. Sintió que la canción lo estaba derrotando, que le estaba ganando por dentro. La música le hablaba de todo lo que no había dicho, de todo lo que había ignorado. Pedro apretó la mano de Naima con más fuerza, como si aferrarse a ella lo pudiera salvar de esa marea. La canción seguía, insistente.

Suona forte cosi ti potrò sentire... cantó Fabio...

Toca fuerte Para que pueda escucharte... dijo Naima...

Noi quaggiù col naso in su a capire cosa sia Sarà il tempo in cui finalmente farai il tuo concerto, anima mia... cantó Fabio

Será el momento en el que por fin tengas tu concierto, alma mía... dijo Naima...

El pensó en lo mal que esta cita estaba saliendo, y ella pensó que “Que vontade de consolar este homem enquanto chora.”

Por primera vez en mucho tiempo, Pedro no pudo evitarlo: las lágrimas llegaron. Como si el peso de todas las cosas no dichas, de todas las canciones escritas en silencio, finalmente lo hubiera alcanzado.

[hannahklucey]

Taylor Swift is Saying Goodbye- and not just to the Eras Tour.

Hannah K. Lucey Dec 12th 2024

On Sunday night, Taylor Swift wrapped up the final weekend of her record-breaking Eras Tour, which began in March of 2023. Now, over two years since its announcement, the Eras Tour is over. But Taylor isn’t just ending the “Eras Era”- she’s saying goodbye to each era, and eras altogether. 

As we know, Taylor has been re-recording her first six albums since 2021, but she didn’t necessarily want to. Taylor allegedly tried to buy the rights to her first six albums from her old record label, Big Machine Records, after her contract expired in 2018, but was allegedly blocked from doing so. In June 2019, it was announced that controversial celebrity manager Scooter Braun had purchased Big Machine Records, which included the rights to Taylor’s work. Taylor soon reported that she would be re-recording her first six albums, has been signed with Republic Records since 2018, and has since been vocal about artists' rights to own their work. She said of her initial thoughts on the rerecording process “How can I possibly do that? Nobody wants to redo their homework if on the way to school, the wind blows your book report away.”

In her reflective Eras Tour book, which was released on Black Friday, Taylor explains that she got the idea for the Eras tour while making her album Midnights, which was released shortly before the tour was announced. She describes the songs as inspired by 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout her life, and ends the Midnights album prologue, “For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching. Hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve...we'll meet ourselves.”

Could it be that while in quarantine, re-recording her work, finding old “vault tracks,” and reflecting on the eras, Taylor Swift began a journey of self reflection that initially led her to Midnights, and ultimately, to the Eras Tour?

Now, through the Eras Tour, has Taylor Swift found a way to process her past, let it go, and find herself?

Taylor added the final song on The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, "The Manuscript," to her surprise set Sunday night, which is the only part of the show that changes every night. She included the lyric, “Looking backwards might be the only way to move forward.” Taylor may believe that The Eras Tour and re-record process was the only way she could properly say goodbye to her eras.

In her 2023 Time Person of the Year interview, Taylor said of her re-recordings, “I’m collecting Horcruxes. I’m collecting infinity stones.” At the time, many of us were surprised to see her referencing things like Harry Potter and The Avengers, when her inspiration usually seems to come from old, dusty books, ancient poets, dead divorcees, classic rockstars, and, of course, her own life. Maybe this time, she was going for accessibility- she wanted us all to get this message. Horcruxes, in the world of Harry Potter, are fractured pieces of Voldemort’s soul that Harry and his friends must collect and ultimately destroy. The infinity stones, however, represent larger forces- time, space, power, mind, reality, and only the final stone represents the soul. In Avengers Endgame (2019), these also have to be destroyed.

With the Eras Tour, Taylor is collecting her eras in order to destroy them, one by one. The destruction of eras would mean becoming one whole person, one Taylor, a Taylor who doesn’t need her eras anymore. She even hints at it in her reflective Eras Tour book, which was released on Black Friday. In the first paragraph of the introduction, about having the idea for an all-encompassing tour, Taylor writes, “...there’s nothing I hate more than doing what I’ve always done,” and what has she always done, if not eras?

She’s not the only one. Eras might be part of Taylor Swift’s image, but they’ve been a Hollywood staple for a long time. Musicians like the Beatles, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and Madonna were expected to publicly reinvent themselves every few years to promote their next album cycle.

Taylor reinvented reinvention, though. By leaving cryptic clues for fans to find, she made guessing her next album title, track title, or even outfit into a puzzle, a mystery for the world to solve. She took her her writing so seriously that each era’s version of Taylor could even be read as performance art, with the Eras Tour being the culmination and conclusion of Taylor’s performance.

In her 2022 NYU Commencement speech, Taylor said, “Everything I do is just an extension of my writing, whether it’s directing videos, or a short film, creating the visuals for a tour, or standing on a stage performing.”

Taylor defined the Eras tour as an era itself just a few days before it began- on March 16, 2023, Taylor posted some photos from tour rehearsals to Instagram with the caption “In my Eras era,” showing her nails painted 10 different colors. Fans quickly assigned “eras” (in this case albums) to each color- green, yellow, purple, red, light blue, green, pink, grey, gold, and midnight blue (for Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), Folklore & Evermore (2020), and Midnights (2022).)

Sunday night in Vancouver, Taylor reflected as she began to perform the Eras Tour one last time: “It has been the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.” In the Eras Tour book, Taylor calls the tour “the longest, most ambitious show I’d ever even attempted.” She describes the promises she had made to herself: to be as physically and mentally strong as possible, to be as disciplined and devoted as possible, and to deliver the “happiness and wonder” that she had promised to millions. From the introduction alone, it’s clear that every part of the Eras tour, like the rest of her art, was planned meticulously.

With the show itself, she sent us a clear message- the versions of her that we see are not the true Taylor, and now she’s going home to her true self, whoever that is. Taylor has always encouraged her audience to find her messages- through lyrics, visual effects, clothing, lighting; anything she shows us is “all by design” as she confesses in the song “Mastermind.” 

Since her Reputation era, Taylor has been repeatedly comparing herself to scorned, angry female characters- namely witches. Taylor references witches in Reputation’s “I Did Something Bad,” Folklore’s “mad woman,” and over and over again on The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which was released in April of 2024 and added to the tour's set in May. In one of the new performances, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” Taylor sings, “So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street/Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream/’Who's afraid of little old me?’/Well you should be,” while swirling black and white visuals play on the screen behind her, evoking those in the tornado scene of The Wizard of Oz (1939). She even spins on her podium on the stage, as her dancers form a swirling circle around her.

Fan video of the performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4FOrYUsY9U&ab_channel=krhtikos4

In this song, as in many others, she characterizes herself as the witch, but interestingly, in the Karma music video, she dresses up as Dorothy instead, on a pop-up book set. With the paper set, and by changing her identity constantly, Taylor reminds us that every version of her that we see has been intentionally curated for our consumption- and not always by herself.

Perhaps the clearest message of the tour was given at the very end of the last show Sunday night, when Taylor finally walked through the mysterious door that has been appearing every night in the background during the last song, Karma.

While some fans theorize about a legendary lost album, anyone who has seen The Truman Show (1998) will recognize the door in the sky. At the end of the movie, Truman, after realizing he has spent his entire life on camera, finally walks off set, through a door in what he believed was the sky for his entire life.

Taylor also bows like Truman does, with her arms out, at the very end of every show, as Karma ends. At the end of her final performance on December 8th, Taylor turned around and walked through the door. For further context, Elton John, on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, ended the show every night by leaving through a door in the back of the stage, on a backdrop that looked like a starry night sky. By drawing our attention to Elton's farewell tour, is Taylor saying this is her last tour? By referencing the Truman Show ending, is she ending a life in the spotlight? By repeatedly referencing both The Wizard of Oz and The Truman Show while on tour, is she hoping we'll link it back to this Elton moment?

In the Eras Tour book, she writes, “...life comes in waves, in phases, in brilliant flurries of magical moments, and all of these things come together to create…Eras." For 20 years now, Taylor has been expected to transform her real life and hardest feelings, her passion, into a marketable product, and reinvent herself time and time again to get us to notice her. Now, she's done. As she sings in "You're Losing Me," she's "getting tired even for a Phoenix."

The visuals at the end of Karma are yet another clue: as the song fades out, supernovas appear on the stage and the backscreen. A supernova is a powerful explosion that occurs when a star has reached the final stage of its life- in other words, a supernova is the death of a star. The message couldn't be clearer- Taylor Swift, the star, is dying, so that Taylor can finally be Taylor Swift, the person, the artist.

In her Time interview, after comparing her eras to Horcruxes and infinity stones, she said “It’s a movie to me now." At the last show, she finished her surprise song set with the lines, "The only thing that's left is the manuscript/One last souvenir from my trip to your shores/Now and then, I reread the manuscript/But the story isn't mine anymore."

She’s letting go of it all- giving it to us.

It also seems she’s pointing us toward movies in a more general sense, and it has been announced that she has written an original script and will be directing a feature film.

Midnights in particular contains many references to storytelling and movies, like “it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero,” “this is why they shouldn’t kill off the main guy,” and of course, “Karma is the guy on the screen, coming straight home to me.”

That “guy” is not any of her actual or rumored lovers, it’s just Taylor. She’s coming home- from celebrity, from Nashville, Hollywood, New York, London, from eras. Taylor Swift is finally coming home to herself.

As we all live in the shadow of the monster on the hill that is Taylor Swift ™️, it’s natural to wonder, “Where can she possibly go from here?” While often asked alongside questions about Taylor settling down or having babies, my wonderings drift in another direction. Where can Taylor possibly go from here, not commercially, not personally, but artistically? One thing is for sure- the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now. But the question isn’t “What’s the next era?” anymore. Just… what’s next?

[tobbesdiscordkitten]

Plastïk Head Headcanon Prompt: Re-dyeing Kiki Bones' Blonde Hair.

A short but sweet prompt ☺️ I hope you enjoy!

- Kiki loathed coloring his hair alone; it was much easier when you helped by combing through his faded strands and retouching the dark roots.

- Every six weeks you would dye his hair. Kiki loved tricking his fans into believing he was a natural blonde.

- After applying the platinum hair-dye, you set a timer for 45 minutes.

- Kiki's scalp begins to burn from the bleach while waiting. He shifts in his seat uncomfortably and tries to ignore it. But as more time passes by, the stinging worsens, making the situation become unbearable. Knowing he can't relieve the sensation with his fingers, Kiki uses a toothpick to scratch the itch in various spots on his head.

- Once the timer ends, Kiki hops in the shower to rinse off. However, when he massages his scalp with shampoo, it hurts from the toothpick marks. He scrubs his hair gingerly, making sure all the color is washed away.

- Afterwards, you blow-dry his hair, then tease it and spray it with excessive amounts of hairspray, drawing inspiration from hair metal band members such as Michael Monroe and Vince Neil.

- Kiki reviews his final look in the mirror before engulfing you in his strong arms and planting a tender kiss on your sweet, soft lips as a reward.

- "Go get 'em, rockstar!" You say in return.

Taglist: @copias-juicebox

Side-note: if anybody else wants to be added on my taglist for certain eras/characters, let me know!

[blueiight]

I also feel like Gaga in her early fame monster/born this way, seeding deep fear and hysteria in christians everywhere, era might be good inspiration for his rockstar era as well. the theatrics of her paparazzi vma performance would be the type of shit he’d love i think.

omg yes especially bc we seem to be re entering some sort of rerun into satanic homophobic panics . trolling religious extremists on ldl end is hilarious cuz lestat plays the disbeliever in s1 but he too, has such a tormented relationship w/ his god

[dogwise]

kinda really into the idea of rockstar era lestat re-piercing his ears every night for the aesthetic

[thelioncourts]

Very important question:

Louis in 2022 has elected for the stylish look of hoodie with tailored track pants. What do you think Lestat would wear in 2022?

hey hey hey, do not come for louis! sure, 2022!louis is in his victorian-wife-mourning era, but he is a fashion i c o n. just wait for him to be himself again (sure, it may take a suicide attempt, a queen of the damned invasion, and/or other things); he is going to be the most beautiful thing the 2020s have ever seen !! he's just. sad right now. and maybe under a bit of mind gift duress. and mourning his husband. and secluding himself in a tower like rapunzel.

however, let's talk about 2022!lestat.

re: lestat, I think there are two ways to look at this. one way is that his rockstar era has not happened yet (likely? probably, but who knows with rj) and so we will witness rockstar!lestat in the next few seasons as a modern celebrity. in that case, I think rockstar!lestat of the 2022 world is -- as a lot of people have suggested -- måneskin. now, as a huge måneskin fan, I want to specify that I think he would be primarily måneskin as dressed by the etro house, but with a smattering of their gucci stuff too. here's some of what I mean:

but! outside of his rockstar!persona, you have to keep in mind that they don't want to draw an insane amount of attention to themselves. vampires are already more beautiful than humans and stand out naturally, so dressing in super high fashion or something 24/7 would probably only draw more attention. that being said, they're still going to mostly dress nice and everything so, sticking with måneskin (and focusing the most on ethan and damiano (as they're my faves and who I pay attention to the most anyway)) here are some more daily outfits I feel like 2022!lestat would wear.

(the second to last pic is from an interview with rolling stone, done by jon weigell and the video is on youtube and just !!!!!! you have to look at ethan and damiano in it).

I think a lot of these outfits really embody the fashion forwardness that Lestat would have, especially after being in the rockstar world and seeing the difference in how people express themselves through clothing today moreso than they could and did in the past.

but! again, make no mistake about it, lestat and louis in 2022 will be the fashion couple of the century. just wait until louis isn't suicidal, then you'll all see !!!