#and tatyana is pretty great too

[ladystrallan]

My girls <3

[tea-with-eleni]

This week in Barovia...

My players, DO NOT READ FURTHER.

So the players debated, then continued to read the Tome of Strahd. Revelations were made. A very uninvited guest showed up. Relationships progress.

The short version: they read the chapter where Strahd mildly lost his mind, made his dark deal, and drained Alek Gwilym.

Not much to say about that one; if you know, you know.

The funny thing happened AFTER...

So, if you're in the minority that read The War Against Azalin, remember how Strahd got around the geas against Darklords going to each other's domain? He possessed a guy. The problem was that the guy fought back.

Well.

Now Tatyana has gone to Darkon and Strahd must follow. It takes time to brew the potion again, time to dig out those old notes, but who's on hand who would never fight back? Who's expendable?

Hi, Escher. Sorry dude.

It's almost like your master is a dark lord and not a great guy.

It gets worse.

The wizard has had a crush on Escher for a while.

And Strahd, being Strahd, has been extremely interested in the wizard. Like, he will kill the rest of the party. But the wizard really is interesting. He's kept a single adventurer from a party before, if they're interesting enough. (Side-eyes Volenta...)

I think the wizard was way too wrapped up in his own head/Vampyr whispering in his ear Dark Urge style that it would be so easy to kill a party member who so utterly trusts him, that it would be so easy to follow in Strahd's footsteps and embrace vampirism without the risk of a sire that may or may not allow you your free will afterwards. He didn't notice that Strahd's portrayal of Escher was anything but perfect. Either that, or he didn't care.

(Strahd did actually, maybe even sincerely?, warn him about Firan Zal'honen, on the grounds that he recognized the description and do not trust Firan Zal'honen. Pfft. Pretty sure Firan might very well prove a very, very, VERY interested ally if they actually approach him...but he's a little busy, he has a dinner party of his own to go to. Something about Lord Darcalus and vengeance for his son. If you know, you know.)

Anyway, this is a long way of saying that Strahd banged the wizard and my players might actually kill me when they find out, because this is like the third time Strahd has been acting via a false face to get close to them.

Fool me once, amIright?

Meanwhile, I really ought to write a short on how Ludmilla and Volenta and Ireena are coping with the aftermath of having read Tatyana's introductory chapter of the Tome of Strahd.

[byneddiedingo]

War and Peace (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1966)

Cast: Sergey Bondarchuk, Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Boris Zakhava, Anatoli Ktorov, Antonina Shuranova, Viktor Stanitsyn, Kira Golovko, Oleg Tabakov, Sergei Yermilov, Irina Skobtseva, Vasili Lanovoy, Vladislav Strzhelchik. Screenplay: Sergey Bondarchuk, Vasiliy Solovyov, based on a novel by Leo Tolstoy. Cinematography: Yu-Lan Chen, Anatoliy Petritskiy, Alexsandr Shelenkov. Production design: Mikhail Bogdanov, Aleksandr Dikhtyar, Said Menyalshchikov, Gennady Myasnikov. Film editing: Tatyana Likachyova. Music: Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov. No film adaptation of a great novel is going to satisfy admirers of that novel. The best we can hope for is a work that stands on its own, that supplies cinematic equivalents for some of the achievements of the prose work. But War and Peace, with its epic battles and accounts of the social lives and romantic entanglements of 19th-century Russians, cries out for filming on the grand and glamorous scale. And few films have assumed a grander scale than Sergey Bondarchuk's seven-hour-long version of Tolstoy's novel, particularly those moments when the camera soars away from the heat of the battle into what seems like the high heavens, or when it sails above the dancers at Natasha's first ball. But I've read the novel several times, and the best I can say, watching Bondarchuk's film again, is that his version is a magnificent failure. We get great gulps of the source material, sometimes in voiceover narration, and the performers are apt embodiments of the characters I see in my mind's eye as I read the book. But no film can capture the interiority of the novel, the psychological insights that make Prince Andrei, Natasha, and especially Pierre into people we feel like we know. Bondarchuk tries to supply some of this with voiceovers in which the characters speak their inner thoughts, but only succeeds in blurring the focus: The voiceovers are distractions from the drama that should be unfolding through action and dialogue. That said, watching the film over four successive nights is a unique experience. Part I: Andrei Bolkonsky The longest of the four parts of War and Peace, Andrei Bolkonsky is the expository vehicle, introducing the three major characters, though it gives the lion's share of exposition to the two men, Andrei ( Vyacheslav Tikhonov) and Pierre (Sergey Bondarchuk). Natasha (Lyudmila Saveleva), still a little girl, virtually bursts into the film when she flings open a door in a brilliant flash of light, but the narrative concentration is on the youthful indecision of Pierre and on Andrei's unhappy marriage. Why he's so unhappy with the pretty, pregnant Lise (Anastasiya Vertinskaya) is never made clear in the film -- and not much clearer in the book, other than that he's a man who hasn't found a direction in his life. Neither has Pierre, to be sure. He's still spending his time with boisterous companions. Vyacheslav Tikhonov and Bondarchuk are too old to be playing these characters -- Tikhonov was in his late 30s and Bondarchuk in his mid-40s -- but the war and the death of Andrei's wife allow Tikhonov to assume maturity swiftly, whereas Bondarchuk is stuck playing the naïf, railroaded into marriage with Hélène (Irina Skobtseva) and later into a foolish duel with Dolokhov (Oleg Efremov). Part II: Natasha Rostova Lyudmila Saveleva is an exquisite Natasha, but I think Bondarchuk does the character a disservice by not allowing her more time to fall into the clutches of Kuragin (Vasili Lanovoy). Tolstoy's novel delineates the gradual stages of Kuragin's seduction and Natasha's yielding to him. It also makes more clear that Kuragin really does fall in love with her -- as who wouldn't? The ball is the spectacular set piece of the installment, and the camera dances along with the people. Andrei's father (Anatoli Ktorov) is the real villain of the story, and I wish we had more of the torture he inflicts on his daughter, Maria (Antonina Shuranova), and on her retreat into religion to bolster the depiction of the old man's cruelty. But as Bondarchuk has chosen to eliminate the very interesting (but not essential) story of Nikolai Rostov's (Oleg Tabakov) throwing over his cousin Sonya (Irina Gubanova) for Maria, there doesn't really need to be much development of the character. Too bad, because Shuranova does a fine job with what's left of Maria in the film -- like Tolstoy's Maria, she really does have beautiful eyes, but unlike her, she could never be considered "ugly." Bondarchuk has also cut, perhaps wisely, Pierre's involvement with the Freemasons, which takes up many of the less interesting pages of Tolstoy's book. Part III: The Year 1812 There are no more spectacular battle scenes than the ones in this film, and probably never will be, even now that we have CGI to supplant the thousands of extras and borrowed Soviet soldiers that Bondarchuk employed for the film. I think the thunder and carnage of war is made more impressive by the presence of Pierre, immaculately garbed, with a white top hat, absurdly stumbling around as the soldiers go about their terrible business. As the narrator puts it, "On June 12, the forces of Western Europe crossed the frontiers of Russia and war began. In other words, an event took place that was contrary to all human reason and human nature." Bondarchuk pulls out all stops in proclaiming the love of Mother Russia that animates the soldiers, but when the icon of the Holy Mother of Smolensk is brought out for mass adoration, I was ironically reminded of the scene in Sergei Eisenstein's The Old and the New (1929) in which a procession of Orthodox clergy comes out to pray for rain and is mocked by cuts to images of bleating sheep. Clearly, much had changed in the treatment of religion in the Soviet Union by the time Bondarchuk made War and Peace. This part does end on a rather heavy-handed patriotic sermon, which I suspect may have been inserted to placate the censors. Part IV: Pierre Bezukhov There is something rushed and jumbled about the concluding part of Bondarchuk's epic, which is forced to wind up the stories of Andrei and Natasha as well as concentrate on the burning of Moscow, the retreat of the French, and Pierre's imprisonment and release. This leaves little time for Tolstoy's epilogue, in which Pierre and Natasha wed and start a family, as do the mostly absent Nikolai and Maria. The coincidence of Pierre's rescue and Petya's (Sergei Yermilov) death feels particularly rushed: I wonder if anyone who hasn't read the book recently will even be able to follow the action. But we are also spared much of the interaction of Pierre and Platon Karataev (Mikhail Khrabrov), one of Tolstoy's founts of peasant wisdom, which even on the page tends toward mawkish sentimentality. There are still some enormously effective scenes. The burning of Moscow puts the burning of Atlanta in Gone With the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939) to shame -- which may have been Bondarchuk's intent. The execution of prisoners by the French is movingly staged, as is the fate of the retreating French soldiers, summed up on one last spectacular overhead shot as the ragged and freezing French stream toward a huge circle around the fire.

[missmonsters2]

I hope your doing well on this fine Monday Van (I absolutely loathe mondays myself) 😂 I have sent you this message in hopes that you can help me with a problem I cannot seem to solve. You see I really enjoyed the dynamic between your own Tatyana (I’m not a crazy fan of her or anything but I do agree she is a fascinating character with a unique backstory. Kudos to you Van for the terrific storyline with her) the relationship or dynamic she has with Wanda intrigues me. You see I’m working on my own story where my main characters villain is her 10th great grandmothers sister, it’s a very supernatural story that has its roots in medieval folklore and so on. The whole idea of “my blood runs through your very veins yet you steal my birthright and have my very privilege at your feet” vibes. The main character has certain gifts (her ancestor’s sister had the very same yet was to selfish to master them) so it’s a very hateful, toxic relationship between the two. Tatyana and Wanda don’t interact too much yet when they do it is very interesting to see there dynamic. My question is how to I make the relationship between my main character and her ancestor villain feel real and tangible? I want to make the pain feel real and the anger between them both feel true. The betrayal, even though it was the villains fault for not mastering the job. The hate that the villain feels for this person who is there blood but to them as done some unthinkable crime against them. The way you write Tatyana’s emotions is truly amazing, any pointers? I hope this made any sense at all Van 😂 and hopefully you got an answer.

hiyaaaa! Mondays are actually pretty okay for me! hope it went well for you :)

I think I am having trouble understanding what the turmoil is betweeen your MC and villain is. I know you talk about them having the same powers and they're supposed to master them but why are they supposed to master their power? What is the job? Why is that a contention point?

The whole idea of “my blood runs through your very veins yet you steal my birthright and have my very privilege at your feet” vibes.

The hate that the villain feels for this person who is there blood but to them as done some unthinkable crime against them.

The betrayal, even though it was the villains fault for not mastering the job.

These are are conflicting points to me. The first two sound like the MC has stolen the ancestor's powers and some sort of "job/birth right". But the last point makes it sound like because the ancestor didn't master their powers, the MC is unwillingly stuck doing their job.

Once again, I don't have the full grasp of the details, so it's unclear to me specifically why they have hatred towards each other.

In BTL, Tatyana and Wanda are opposing forces because they're both vying for the same person and it's not about their magical powers.

Within Tatyana's character, she is egotistical and therefore sees Wanda as an inferior version of herself despite being her descendant. This is because it's hinted that Tatyana doesn't hold any familial ties even before she met reader. And what is inferior doesn't bother her.

But on top of that, Tatyana also feels that Wanda is kind of like an extension of her because they're related. It's why she feels more threatened by Nat than by Wanda. Tatyana can almost reason that reader "choosing" wanda is almost like choosing her.

Tatyana is more experienced about their magic and she has see something in Wanda that Wanda doesn't realize yet (which is being the scarlet witch) but it's not something Tatyana desires because she knows she can't become the scarlet witch.

Therefore, all their drama centers around who Reader wants to be with. Tatyana can see that reader has feelings for Wanda (and nat) but in her mind, it's all circumstancial. In her head, it's "she loves Wanda and Nat because I wasn't there for her to love. If we had just lived in peace—if what happened between us didn't happen, then we'd still be together and she would've never looked at anyone else."

I created Tatyana with her entire purpose being she wanted to love and be loved by reader due to the shared history between them. Tatyana had only ever gone against the humans because they were inteferring with her peaceful life with reader. She had only wanted to accumlate more power for reader. This history and background context creates a deeper turmoil between Tatyana and reader and also creates the hate Tatyana feels towards Nat/Wanda.

So, I think you need to decide in more depth the 'why' for your antagonist and MC. Why does the ancestor and MC want (or not want) this birthright/power? There has to be more background context for there to have deeper emotion.

Hope that helps!

[rugbybraincell]

WXV1 Week 2

USA v France

Prediction: France by 22 Tl;dr: Thinking about vibes here: week 1 went quite well for US given their opponent was #1 team in the world England, while France lost by a surprisingly large margin to Canada. Expecting US to be feeling a lot of confidence and France, while they have something to prove, have shown some vulnerability and a lack of variation in attack. Players to watch: (US) Gabby Cantorna comes into 12 and moves Alev to 13, a move designed to offer a second playmaker but one that could expose them on defense without Emily Henrich's solid positioning at 13 controlling the outside channels. Alev was huge last weekend on attack so expect US to try a lot through her. (France) Alev's French opposite Konde #13 will give her a real run for her money. France's 15 Jacquet is critical to their kicking game, which will be an interesting test for Mac in the USA's double fullback set-up.

2. Canada v Ireland

Prediction: Canada by 17 Tl;dr: I think Canada is underestimating Ireland with their roster, though I still bet on them to get the win on the strength of their overall squad and how well their system suits them. Canada makes changes at #3, 5, 7, and 11; who all had strong performances last week. But Ireland have a big psychological test to get back to business after such a historic win, they're used to defending other European teams who play in very predictable patterns off 10, and they don't have the depth/interchangeability of Canada. The Ireland 9s were also driving me crazy last week with some of their decision making, or lack thereof, I think because they're primarily 7s players. Players to watch: (Canada) Gabrielle Senft was really good at #8 last week. #9 Justine "Petty" is a great fit with their style and one to watch for how we want to play. I hadn't seen the #13 play 15s before and wow, Shoshanah Seumanutafa has INSANE FOOTWORK.(Ireland) #3 Linda Djougang, #6 Erin King coming off the bench, and #7 Aoife Wafer were stand-outs last week. Shoutout to Djougang and #1 O'Dowd for both playing 80 minutes at prop last week (truly insane), though that doesn't signal good things for Ireland's depth and means they must be a bit tired. Djougang defends like a pesky lock/backrow in open play, especially keen on blowing up rucks. 3. New Zealand v England Prediction: England by 19 Tl;dr: These teams faced each other in a pre-WXV friendly and England won 24-12, though that scoreline looks a bit generous to NZ since they were never within a try. I expect a similar outcome this time or bigger. The Black Ferns' talk after the Ireland game was about taking too many quick-taps and not trusting their set piece enough; so expect them to try to game/territory manage more but I think have less success since they're competing against the best set-piece team in the world. Players to watch: (New Zealand) I don't like the changes here. Kaipo Olsen-Baker coming into #8 - a strong carrier but pretty one dimensional. Demant moves to #12 with the young Hannah King at #10, bumping Du Plesses off the roster which I think is a shame. (England) Big guns are back for England. Their preferred 9-10 combo are back after resting last week: Hunt and Aitchinson. Marlie Packer your favorite mom/loud-mouth bully is back at #7. Both locks are icons of the game. #12 Tatyana Heard is worth paying attention to as they've begun to have her do more and more playmaking on attack, whereas she used to be there to just beat defenders.

[dexadin]

What's your opinion on female Strahd/"Strahdyana"? I know it's a popular way of reducing the creep factor inherent in the CoS module, but it always rubbed me the wrong way somehow.

This will also probably be a long one because I have been shaking it around in my brain like a snowball.

So first off, I do not actually care if you make your Strahd a woman, I know that there are Big Name D&D players who do it successfully. I believe Ginny Di runs a female Strahd, and what I've seen of it from over on Twitter seems pretty neat. That being said, I think about Strahd, like, too much, and also spend a lot of time on CoS reddit and twitter, and I do think a lot of DMs use female!Strahd as a quick & dirty way to reduce the creep factor, like you said, without really considering the power imbalances and forces at play that allow Strahd to be a creep. I think that might be why it rubs you the wrong way the same way a lot of it rubs me the wrong way. It isn't actually the gender swap that's the core problem, but the lack of assessment that goes into a lot of these types of games. I'm going to go into Probably Too Much Detail as to why below the cut

CW for discussions of sexism, sex/gender based violence, suicide, and homophobia, as well as major spoilers for Curse of Strahd below the cut

As written in the module, Strahd is a horrible fucking monster. He acts like an incel and is a manipulative, jealous, psycho-sexual creep. Strahd works as a timeless villain, because he's more than just a bogeyman. He is not only the monster under the bed, but the monster sharing the bed. He's deeply pathetic and deplorable and terrifying all at the same time. I think this is something a lot of tables don't want to tackle headfirst for obvious reasons, but still want to enjoy the classic gothic horror of CoS, and I think that's great! D&D is supposed to be fun, and as written, CoS is a meatgrinder that can be a pain in the ass to slog through at times. But in my opinion, it requires a lot of work on the part of the DM to really look through the module and see what needs to be kept, what needs to be reworked or reinterpreted, and what needs to be scrapped.

I think that it's very easy to see a character like Strahd whose main plot revolves around gendered, sexual violence (pursuing an unwilling Tatyana to and through her death) and say that changing him to a her will fix that gendered violence in a way I really do not vibe with.

For example, simply changing Strahd to lady!Strahd isn't going to make finding a 16-year-old Gertruda in her bed any less terrible. Lady!Strahd might make the initial discomfort of the pursuit of Ireena less uncomfortable, especially if you change the subject of Strahd's pursuit to Ismark, but it doesn't actually change the immorality of the actions. And obviously, lady!Strahd will not fix the fact that she pursued Tatyana (or even guy!Tatyana) until she is driven to suicide.

If you change Strahd to a woman, are you also going to gender-swap the rest of the characters, or are you just going to have a woman be responsible for the torture and killing of so many women and children? In the same vein, are you going to consider the potential homophobic implications of having a lesbian predator treat women the same way as-writ Strahd would? Are you going to dismantle the power structures that exist in CoS just as diligently as you would with a male antagonist? Are you going to make sure that your changes aren't diminishing or making light of gendered and sexual violence perpetrated against men by women? Will these changes alone be enough to make CoS enjoyable by you and your players? Obviously, if the answer is yes, then go off! Use your safety tools and keep communication open. I just think that sometimes DMs, especially on Reddit, think they're doing a lot with lady!Strahd without doing much at all.

That said, I do think there is some interesting potential in CoS having a woman antagonist, though. I think it could be fun to explore some antiquated gender dynamics-- is it really Tatyana that Strahd is after, or is Strahd jealous of Sergei because he's the male heir who received their parent's keep, while Strahd had to go out and fight for her respect? How would Strahd's relationship to Rahadin, or Fiona Wachter potentially change? I think a woman Strahd would make a great baseline to bring Baba Lysaga to the forefront as a more prominent, plot-important enemy than she's written as. I'd love to see what could happen with that maternal dynamic with a hardened woman instead of an entitled man. From what I've seen though, that's not the kind of thing most DMs who gender swap Strahd are looking for. I could be wrong though!

TLDR: lady!Strahd can be a fun way to challenge preconceived notions about the module, and to revamp (heh) the story a little. It can also give your players a new way to simp over Strahd, because BBEG-fuckers come in all genders and sexual orientations. However, I think a lot of DMs use it as a way to fix the module through 'girlboss-ifying' Strahd instead of confronting its many, many issues, and I don't think it should be used as the DMs primary method of 'fixing' the module. In fact, I think it can actually open more ideological cans of worms than running it as written.

On a lighter note, I do think Strahdyana von Zarovich is a silly name. Like, Strahdyana doesn't feel particularly Slavic, it's not good to look at or say, and it feels weird especially when you are keeping Tatyana's name Tatyana. But most importantly, it should be von Zarova because that's how Slavic surnames work. The naming conventions are frustratingly inconsistent in the book, but if you're gonna do it at all, I say do it better LMAO

[mewtonian-physics]

A bit random but do you have any thoughts on Eva and Raiden's relationship? I like to think she probably had a soft spot for him myself but I'd be interested in your take.

oh this is a GREAT question anon :) i DO have some thoughts. i'm less confident about them than i usually am about these things because i haven't been able to make myself watch all of mgs3 but i figure it's fine since i have seen the eva scenes in mgs4 and that is the operative time frame. but if i fuck up the characterization please do let me know. 

okay tl;dr yeah i do think she has a serious soft spot for him and he has trouble with it because his relationships with others have always been totally fucked and it's just weird for him. but eventually (aka when raiden is completely emotionally devastated and also physically incapable of self-isolating) they reach the 'family is so real' point. too bad eva fucking dies, there was so much potential. some brief evidence: 'raiden sent me' is considered a valid introduction, the way she just completely stops briefly after she starts talking about him (guilt? guilt???)

and now for the essay answer.

so like. i don't know what the deal was with solidus' parentage like if it worked the same way as the other two or not, i haven't been able to find anything on that, but do i consider eva to be raiden's cool grandmother either way? YES. and i promise it makes perfect sense in my head even though i have no idea how to map it out on a family tree.

anyway we know they first met some time between mgs2 and mgs4, before raiden became a cyborg. i think he knew he couldn't rescue sunny alone, so i imagine he figured out a way to reverse engineer his connection to GW and gather as much information as he could. then he went to the PLA for help, offering that information as a bargaining chip. help him save sunny, and they could have whatever information they wanted.

i imagine it was pretty bizarre to meet him for the first time seeing as she did spend all that time in groznyj grad as tatyana and... well he'd look very familiar now wouldn't he. (if kojima is going to do raiden the disservice of raikov existing then i am damn well going to use him however i please.) bonus points after learning about his connection to snake. imagine how it must have felt for her. this young man who looks like he walked straight out of the past, straight from 1964 to almost half a century later, appears without warning and introduces himself by a name that once belonged to the man she loved, as if he's a living incarnation of a time and a place he's never seen. and then he knows her sons, both (or perhaps all three) of them. it must have been hard for her not to immediately start asking questions!

and she's already very familial with the PLA ('mother of the regiment' is quite a title) but i do think she would have had an extra soft spot for raiden on account of how closely entwined he is with her family and her past (although, y'know, she didn't exactly have any fondness for raikov so it must've been a bit odd at first working with someone who looked almost exactly like him. luckily raiden's personality is the exact opposite.) i have other thoughts on comparisons but i don't know how to put them into words.

it's odd for him too, because she treats him almost like she's known him all his life and he doesn't know if that's just how she is or if there's something he isn't being told (again). also (AFTER the prerequisite suspicion) everyone seems so welcoming and treats him like a member of their odd little family so quickly and that kind of terrifies him because no one is ever that nice to him without an ulterior motive. but then it turns out they're just like that and eva's other names are there for a reason. he doesn't think he likes it very much. with his other 'family' in mind, it just feels like a threat. even though he so badly wants a family, suddenly being treated like he has one is more terrifying than comforting. he thinks of solidus. he thinks of rose, and whenever eva refers to the other PLA members as children, he thinks of the child that he never got to see. eva doesn't ask questions, just gives him his space, and he appreciates that. she lets him call her eva because he can't bring himself to refer to her the way everyone else does. the word sits wrong in his throat and he feels like he's choking on it whenever he tries. and she's had her own share of suffering, she knows trauma when she sees it. so she doesn't push the issue. he might feel more comfortable there with time, or he might not.

he doesn't. after rescuing sunny he gives them the information and leaves. she figures she won't see him again, but surprise, it isn't all that long before he comes back--and if he'd seemed miserable before, he seems completely shattered now. but he offers to help retrieve big boss's remains, and she accepts, because assistance is always welcome and he seems so desperate to have something, anything to do to keep his mind off of whatever it was that did this to him.

she says in mgs4 specifically that 'he and i' retrieved the remains of big boss, so i think they probably worked together on the first attempt. of course, things went wrong. i suspect it was a trap set from the moment raiden got hold of the information in the first place. now, eva clearly made it out fine, but raiden didn't. so what happened there? all things considered, i suspect he pulled one of the same kinds of self-sacrificial stunts he was so fond of during mgs4. (eva's love of biblical motifs... raiden died for your sins???) i can picture it, actually. they're surrounded, putting up a good fight but losing, and he tells her to get out of there, he'll hold them off. she isn't exactly fond of this idea, of course, but she's also pragmatic, and knows he's 100% correct when he says the PLA needs her and it won't help anyone if they both die here. she's not the sort of person who goes in for pointless heroics like saying 'no one's going to die today' when it's pretty damn obvious that there's no way they're both getting out of there. one, maybe. but not both. (is this also because i have an unnatural love of self-sacrificing characters saying 'i'll be right behind you' when everyone involved knows that that's a lie? yes. yes it is. i can do what i want.)

except, well, he obviously doesn't die. i think probably they had a read on his vital signs via the nanomachines the same way the patriots did in mgs2, and that's how they realize it. and so, y'know, there's an obvious concern about what the fuck the patriots are planning to do to him, but they're thinking more along the lines of 'torturing him until he gives up the PLA's location' and not 'experimenting on him'. either way, rescue mission!

...but of course, it takes too long.

when they bring him back, she almost doesn't recognize him. almost entirely artificial, covered in blood, emotionless, not responding to his own name--if it weren't for the fact that he still responds to 'raiden' he would seem like someone else entirely. he acts like someone else entirely.

she feels guilty, like she let him down. if they'd somehow still managed to succeed in getting big boss's remains, it would be bad enough--like trading one body for another. but at least he wouldn't have suffered completely in vain. he might have been able to comfort himself with that, if they'd only succeeded. but they didn't. he went through this for nothing.

she lives up to her title at this point. how could she not? he's family, and this happened because he was trying to help her. his odd relationship with the concept be damned, they don't call her big mama for nothing and if there's any time he needs someone to be there for him it's now.

this is where i show some of my writing but it's not really showing off because i have no idea if i'm doing this right, RIP to me (okay i am showing off raiden's perspective here... that bit i'm proud of. eva... i don't even know, i don't have the confidence levels with her that i wish i did.)

dr. madnar is of the opinion that that 30% chance of failure might actually be the best-case scenario considering raiden's condition. eva gets angry about that. (if she doesn't, if she admits that raiden himself is probably going to wish he'd died, the guilt will drown her.)

(guess the parallel i put in there, win nothing but my respect)

(also i have to bring up that they really do the backwards-from-ten thing before surgery and it's kind of awesome, when they asked me to do that it felt like a challenge to get through all the numbers. i am pretty sure i failed. it was the kind of exciting that only comes with your brain going all fuzzy and silly on sedatives. unfortunately raiden does not get to experience the joys of it because the circumstances 100% suck, someone give this man a break.)

i think she's pretty much just dealing with a mixture of guilt and the natural emotional response to the fucking horrifying things that the patriots did to raiden. it'd be like that with anyone but bonus points because they already have a complicated relationship thing going.

his recovery is difficult because she still has a lot of things that she needs to do, but at the same time she wants to be there for him. he has to relearn so many things--he can't even walk properly on his own. she really feels like a mother there. she never saw her sons learning how to walk (and that sounds like someone else we know now doesn't it), but if she had she imagines it would have been much like this--unsteady, full of setbacks and frustrations. raiden is so much like a child now, learning how to navigate a world that's no longer familiar. (remember my fragmented identity essay? yep, we're dealing with that. with the 'death' of the 'normal' part of his identity, he doesn't have anything better to deal with the situation. hence, child.) the one benefit of this is that he's finally willing to let himself be comforted. because dear god does he need it.

so yeah they are family after that point. wish it could have lasted longer. if this is incoherent it's because it's 2 am. i love my silly little essays. maybe a bit too much. i am going to sleep now i hope you enjoyed the post and that it made sense and that i am not fucking up eva's character massively (i am so sorry if i am i respect her so much but mgs3 is kind of terrifying)

[palidoozy-art]

The more I think about your recent post about the changes you made to Strahd, the more I wonder about those changes you made to the others mentioned (Rahadin, Van Richten, Ireena, etc). I'd absolutely love to hear what adjustments you made as you already shared some stellar ideas already. Like the Tome? -Chef kiss- Amazing.

Oh mannn I do love talking about my campaign. I changed a lot with them. Again, weirdly enough, I think Strahd wound up being the most like his original incarnation. I could talk forever about the changes I made so I'll try to be brief haha. IT STILL WON'T BE BRIEF.

Obvious CoS spoilers below

IREENA - I thought it was weird that the picture they gave her makes her look like such a badass, and then the module just kind of writes her as a damsel in distress to either get kidnapped or pulled into water or dumped somewhere. To me, she's like, the second most important character in CoS -- and the book literally gives you less direction to roleplay her than her brother. Furthermore, reading her ending actually legit made me mad.

So I said fuck all that. Ireena in my game was a 19-year old girl who grew and developed over the course of the campaign. Several of my players actually said they thought of her as "the main character," just because she experienced a lot of character growth and development, going from a sheltered meek teenager to someone who can fight and assert herself. The biggest change I made to her though was that I very specifically did not just want her to be "Tatyana with memory loss." Ireena is a unique individual who happens to be partially made out of Tatyana's soul. While she shares many similarities with Tatyana, they're separate people, and part of what Ireena has to grapple with is how to live up to that. She's in the post-campaign because of that distinction -- while Sergei offered her to join him, she declined, because she wants to experience life past her twenties. I didn't get to play it out because we were kind of rushing towards the end, but I honestly envisioned a scene where she talks to the portrait of Tatyana, apologizing to her because she knows she's being selfish remaining alive.

This also brings up a unique problem in the post campaign. If Ireena dies, she ceases to exist and may not be able to be resurrected. When her soul leaves her body, it's Tatyana's again. Ireena very much wants to live. Tatyana doesn't. A resurrection has to be made with the consent of the soul, and if Tatyana declines, Ireena's just... gone. Forever.

Related: because I wasn't sure what my players would ask, and Rahadin would absolutely know this information -- there have been 18 incarnations of Tatyana, including the original. I actually have a timeline of when they were all born and how they died. The curse manifests in that they always die or are killed before their 25th birthday. If Strahd attempts to marry them, they lose their minds and throw themselves off of the same balcony the original Tatyana jumped off of during the ceremony. Strahd can never have Tatyana. Vampyr will ensure of that.

But yeah, essentially: Ireena gained actual class levels; she wasn't just Tatyana with memory loss; she traveled with the party for 90% of the campaign and wasn't just a macguffin to be kidnapped/take to places; and I removed any of the "Sergei takes her into water/the sky and you never see her again" endings because I absolutely hated those.

VAN RICHTEN - Van Richten I tweaked a lot from his original incarnation. First, I started him off as Lawful Neutral. No, game, I know you tell me he's Lawful Good, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you that "training a racist tiger to genocide an ethnic camp" falls under the spectrum of Lawful Good. Second, I changed him from cleric to artificer (alchemist). I somehow just got the impression the dude was a godless man, and so he felt more fitting to be a man of science rather than a man of the church. Third, since I wasn't sure the other dread domains were ever going to be brought into 5e I moved him out of Darkon and into another world from the outside.

His backstory was also tied more into Strahd and the campaign in general, as well as the Dark Powers. About 30 years ago, he went into the mists with his own adventuring party (that included Escher) to try to rescue his kidnapped son, Erasmus. He found his son half-turned and begging him for death. Killing him, Van Richten hunted down the Vistani woman (Ezmerelda's mother) who sold the man, and in a rage strangled her to death. This gave him a curse. Ezmerelda witnessed it happen.

He went on a warpath against vampire spawn and vistani alike, until Strahd proposed a deal to Escher. Escher lured the group to a familiar dinner date with Strahd... only for Strahd to murder all of them, including Van Richten. Van Richten was approached by a dark power -- Vaund the Evasive, and given the option to return to life in exchange for the promise that Van Richten would eventually return to Amber Temple and free him. He took it, waking up outside of Barovia. From there he became famed vampire-hunter-book-author, until in his early 50's he decided it was time to seek vengeance and fulfill his promise. He brought in his hat of disguise, came up with an alibi, and headed into Barovia as Rictavio the Great.

He was absolutely played as a much more morally grey character at the start (the party's first encounter with him rather than Rictavio was him literally torturing a dude). He softened over the course of the campaign as he grew attached to the party, until finally reaching a point in the post-campaign where he's considered Lawful Good

Also: Ezmerelda was treated more or less as his adoptive daughter. She absolutely argued against this every single time, but he even slipped up and referred to her as his daughter on a few tense occasions.

RAHADIN - Rahadin I adjusted a lot, too. A LOOOOOOT. Strahd being comically evil makes sense -- the dude is a darklord, that kind of comes with the territory. With Rahadin, I wanted him to have more motivations to his actions, because the base game actually suggests that the dude is actually capable of caring. In the base game, you can find him at Amber Temple, trying to "petition the dark god into releasing his master from his torment." He screams in grief if he finds Strahd dead. Furthermore it felt like the game glosses over the fact that the dude was adopted as Barov's son. It doesn't bother addressing how Rahadin felt about Sergei, who would in theory be his other brother. I thought a number of things suggested in his backstory were interesting, but not expanded upon in the base game. So I took it upon myself to do so.

I changed how dusk elf society was built, which affected the three major dusk elf characters. It worked off of a pretty brutal caste system, with three kings at the top overseeing all of it. Rahadin was born in a lower caste, but actually brought into the warrior caste after a member of royalty was intrigued by his stature. Rahadin worked as a general, but grew frustrated by the inefficiencies of the caste system and its inequality. He started attempting to use his influence to petition other members of nobility into changing or loosening the strict system.

Patrina caught wind of this, and viewing it as a threat to her lifestyle + viewing it as an easy way to gain brownie points with those above her... tattled on him to the three kings, spinning what he was doing as treason. Rahadin was arrested and subsequently tortured. They attempted to execute him on a breaking wheel, breaking his bones against the spokes and leaving him in the town square as an example. He wound up escaping, crawling his way out of town until he was subsequently rescued by a group of human monks. The event pretty much broke him, morally. He went to Barov soon after and sold his people out, taking a personal hand in helping annihilate the dusk elves and conquering their land. Barov was so impressed by the man's loyalty that he adopted him as his son.

Part of this was done to make a connection as to why the hell Rahadin just absolutely fuckin' hates Patrina so much (since that definitely got played up during the campaign). When thinking of Rahadin's motivations, I tried to come at it from the angle that this man was evil... but legitimately cared deeply about Strahd, Sergei, and Tatyana. He was devestated from the events of the wedding, but saw Strahd's return as a second chance. As the lone surviving witness from the wedding, he desperately wanted to help the three of them. But his own blind loyalty to Strahd and his broken moral compass prevented him from doing so.

One of my favorite little additions was a sidequest I offered to the players (they wanted to redeem Rahadin). They were requested by him to retrieve (well, "not destroy or sell") one of his most precious belongings in his office. When they get there... it turns out it's a birthday card and a worn-out old amulet from Sergei and Tatyana that he's kept after all these years. They got Ireena to read the letter to him, to help him keep going after Strahd's death.

anyway i could ramble on about changes forever but i don't want this post to get too long haha. i have. many feelings. over this campaign. maybe at some point I'll do a separate post with some of the others.

i also kinda wanna do a comic of an event from Rahadin's backstory for my players but we'll see, I might deem it "too stupid."

[tatyana-dreaming]

Met opera asks day 6

Thank you again @opera-my-beloved​!! the questions just keep getting better and better! That being said this post is atrociously long :’) FAIR WARNING

Any favorite weird/funny lyrics? Bartolo, Basilio, and Marcellina’s in the Act II Finale of Nozze (musically more than anything)... oh, of course “pa..Pa...PA!” (ad infinitum) in Papageno/Papagena’s duet... Figaro’s “Largo al Factotum”... and I completely agree with @revedebeatrice​ and was actually screaming over that particular “---mètre” line in Hoffman from the eye trio today (idk “thermomètre” in particular just really got me)

Also hmmmm sometimes I laugh at the poetic lines in Trovatore (I was going to say only Manrico, especially during the Act II finale - “ The waves of the rivers have an irresistible force!” okay Manrico -- but then again he has his Troubadour songs too... and then Leonora gets almost - ALMOST poetic in her Act IV aria... and actually di Luna is more poetic than her, I mean, Il Balen??) so anyways I find those funny because. Haha it just is. The overly “poetic” parts just heighten the ridiculousness of the melodrama; so many other more serious operas have such less dramatic librettos and I find it funny.

What are some opera songs that make you lose your mind? Finale of Onegin (I wrote an essay about it remember hehe?) but also Olga and Tatyana’s Duet and Skazhi Kotoraya Tatyana (my beloved) and Uvi, Somnenya Net/Puskai Pogibnu Ya, and, and :) Act II finale of Nozze Act I and II Preludes of Un Ballo in Maschera (and the Act III Quintet) Un Dì Felice/Ebben..? from La Traviata Violin Aria from Les Contes d’Hoffman

So many, I have to stop there though.

Are there any Met interview moments that live rent-free in your mind? Definitely Roberto Alagna in Don Carlo (never forget that somersault!!!) and Renée interviewing the cast of the 2011 Trovatore (Sondra Radvanovsky and Marcelo Álvarez being so CUTE) also when Dmitri Hvorostovsky a) called Sondra Radvanovsky “rock and roll” in the Ballo interview, because she is, and b) when when he held ground for Onegin when Beverly Sills interviewed him with Renée Fleming by saying "I would really disagree with you, because if [Onegin] was…cold and [aloof], Tatyana would never fall in love with me. Obviously I have quite a great bunch of qualities…”

What’s an opera production that you positively rant about for an hour and a production that you could angry rant about for an hour? Positive: 2007 Carsen Onegin (I have matured though, and seen many different Onegins now, so I understand why others don’t like the set or production. Completely valid. But with That Cast, they could just sing the music in a blackbox theatre and I would say it’s the greatest production ever so. Also, those leaves ARE magic)

Negative: I really don’t have an answer for this one! Only anger/confusion for why certain productions WEREN’T filmed live in HD

Are there any weirdly specific moments from a stream/production that you love? I second @sweatershowgirl​, that heel kick in Faust (2011) is glorious (so is all the drinking form beakers, haha #toxic). So many in the 1998 Nozze - Basilio’s hair pats, the pheasant triology, Marcellina’s affectionate cheek kisses, Bryn’s growls. Basically all of Kate Lindsey’s Nerone and Nicklausse.... and YES Pretty Yende and Matthew Polenzani in the 2018 Elisir... (make that Polenzani’s absolute Attitude towards Papa Germont in the 2012 Traviata)

Which opera production was the most visually pleasing to you? Too difficult! I was of course very pleased with Leaf Onegin (aka My Many Colored Onegin) because of all the colors, and as I’ve said I loved the 2012 Rusalka....Oh, of course! the 2018 Cendrillon and Traviata....absolutely lovely. WAIT WAIT also Comte Ory (all that pink and purple and of course the “nuns!” ahhh!!)

Is there any singer who changed your opinion on an opera character? I couldn’t take Leonora seriously until Sondra Radvanovsky. Mainly because her Leonora doesn’t necessarily take anything too seriously and when she does she does it with power (oops, I wrote a 20k word essay about it) (yeah I’m just tagging everything on here tonight huh)

Are there any productions you wish had been filmed but are only available in audio form (or not available at all)? Apparently Thomas Hampson was Onegin in 2009? (LEAF ONEGIN!!) And I’d love to see a full Renée Fleming/Ramón Vargas Traviata... and honestly, so many.... I’ll stick with those two since this post is already way too long :)

[little-scholar]

Strazalin: Our Last Summer, The Ravenloft/ABBA Jukebox Musical

This started as a joke, but now I think it’s pretty great…So I curated a playlist of all ABBA songs which I felt really embodied the story told in I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin by P.J. Elrod. This turned into a pretty great jukebox musical for Ravenloft, and so I’ve written out this analysis. I think this is better than Mamma Mia, so take that as you will. There’s a way that ABBA speaks to Ravenloft like no other musical group will do. Most of this playlist are songs from Strahd’s perspective which is most of the novel too. So here are my ramblings, and there’s a link at the bottom to go follow the playlist on Spotify if interested. 

Act 1

1. Our Last Summer - Our story begins with Strahd von Zarovich reminiscing about the time he’s spent with Azalin over the past few summers (many years of summers in fact). There’s a montage of scenes as a preview to the rest of our story. Alternate: Our story begins with Strahd von Zarovich reminiscing about the time he’s spent with his lover, Alek Gwylim, and his obsession, Tatyana and her reincarnations. He is ultimately oblivious to the impending War about to be.

2. Watch Out  - Strahd meets the Zarovan tribe. In a meeting with Madam Eva, Strahd is warned to watch out for the Necromancer who he is destined to go to war with. (The Necromancer turns out to be Azal’lan.) 

3. Arrival - Firan Zal’honan arrives in Barovia from the Mists. Bagpipes are in the background - Strahd mentions bagpipes like once in this book, so it fits.

4. The Day Before You Came - Strahd reflects on his normal routine the day before Azalin came into his life stirring up all kinds of chaos.

5. I’ve Been Waiting for You - Strahd has been waiting for The Necromancer for a long time. Suddenly, he finds him. 

6. I Have a Dream - Both Strahd and Azalin join forces with the common goal, or dream, of breaking free of the Dark Powers control and out of the Mists back to the material plane.

7. I Let the Music Speak - More like, I let the magic speak. This song starts the tale of Azalin tutoring Strahd in magic. Side note but also Strahd keeps mentioning Azalin not being one for music. Strahd is a music man and plays the organ. This song slaps so gotta do it. 

8. When I Kissed the Teacher - So…Strahd is engaged with his tutor. 

9. Andante, Andante - See the above. Also, “please don’t let me down” is his way of saying don’t betray me even though it is inevitable. Just think about it.

10. Knowing Me, Knowing You - Inevitably, Strahd and Azalin split. Azalin moves to the tower renovated by Van Richten in 5e. They know each other well to know they can never really live without being in fear that one would destroy the other. 

11. Me and I - While trying to break free, Strahd’s personality splits apart in Mordent. His two personalities sing this one. 

12. Two For the Price of One - Again a play on Strahd’s two personalities. Azalin handles Strahd putting him back together again. 

13. When All is Said and Done - Strahd wakes up in Barovia a while later unaware of what happened and that his personalities split. In the crystal ball he finds Azalin in a domain of his own, Darkon. They have biting words. This tension marks the end of Act 1. 

[End of Act 1]

Act 2

14. The Name of the Game - Strahd wonders what the game with Azalin is all for. What is the name of the game? This opens Act 2. This tension is the key aspect of Act 2. 

15. I’m a Marionette - This song can be used in reference to many different apprentices of Azalin including my PC in CoS.  Since he cannot master new magic, he is forced to use others to master what he cannot. These apprentices are usually subject to Azalin’s mental games and manipulation making them a marionette. Strahd was also one as Azalin curse Strahd in order not to put the big picture/dots together. This is the name of the game. 

16. Rock Me - Azalin and Strahd chat escalating to Azalin challenging Strahd to a war between their domains.

17. Soldiers - It’s war. Soldiers sing the song that neither dark lord will knowing that neither can see battle due to being stuck in their own domains. 

18. The Winner Take It All - Strahd singing The Winner Takes it All is all I’ve ever wanted, but ultimately, Azalin is the better ruler and has a victory over Strahd in the sense that Strahd will always view Azalin with fear. 

19. One of Us - This song is sung by both Azalin and Strahd missing each other in their domains. The loneliness of being a Dark Lord I suppose. 

20. Move On - Eventually, Strahd and Azalin just move on from war. It’s just not worth it. Not until Strahd is more creative in his approach to battle with Azalin. 

21. So Long - I final fuck you to Strahd from Azalin.

22. As Good As New - Azalin and Strahd’s relationship has never been better than being out of war and being separated.

23. The Way Old Friends Do - Azalin and Strahd are old friends. “And after fights and words of violence, we make up with each other - the way old friends do.”

[End of Act 2]

And that’s the show! The War Against Azalin really slaps, so I would recommend also picking up the book for spicy content (and also listening to it with your Strahd cardboard cutout if you’re like me and @sapphogothicc. Here’s a link to the playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/track/6TI91Un4sxz3ehEhguwKuc?si=j3DWuLMITteC01fnjEdG9A

[tea-with-eleni]

Story Time is a Great Idea

You refuse to hear another chapter of Strahd’s book. You’re tempted to burn the damn thing, but it might yet have something that can help kill the author. Although, right now? You’d cheerfully kill him with your bare hands.

It probably wouldn’t work.

Probably.

You would still try, if he waltzed into your camp right now. Based on how still Ludmilla has gone, you suspect she would try to help. Volenta pulls her aside and gives you a confused look. Ludmilla shrugs her off and snarls at the darkness and the distant lake.

“I knew he lost his damn mind over you, but hells!”

“What happened?” Volenta asks. Ludmilla is ready to tear someone to shreds. You sit down and bury your face in your hands.

“We got to hear Strahd’s memories about Tatyana,” you say. “It was… I was…”You trail off and start again. “He was convinced I was madly in love with him and with Sergei in turns.”

“I take it you weren’t,” Volenta says. It isn’t a question, but you shrug a reply anyway.

“I think I could have been in love with Sergei, eventually,” you say, “But Strahd was old enough to be my father.” Volenta snorts and sits next to you. She gives an all-too-toothy grin.

“I’d point out that didn’t stop me,” she says, “Or Mila. But I think it’s also safe to say that was a really, really, really bad idea in the long run. So, was it just that he remembered you as some kind of weird goddess or something? Gross, but kinda what we expected?”

“No,” Mila says. “Volenta, we said yes. We agreed to be with him. We sought him out. She wasn’t at Ravenloft for him, but he was going to give her a damn love potion. In front of everyone. She was younger than fucking Escher, the only reason she was even in Ravenloft was because the church was interested in her magic — I think I have that right?” You nod. “And he was going to force her to love him. Which, as we have established over and over, she would rather actually die.” Volenta winces.

“That is pretty bad,” she agrees. “I also can’t believe I’m the voice of reason right now, but you need to calm down or get out of here, Mila.” Volenta glances at you. “Ireena, you should maybe not sit so close? Mila, go find someone we don’t like if…”

“I’m not going to kill anyone,” Mila says. “Except Strahd.”

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Les Huguenots (Grand Théâtre de Genève, 2020): Reactions, Part I

Given that my current Act of Hubris Involving Video Editing is putting English subtitles on this production, I guess now is a good of a time as ever to finally officially liveblog it.

@monotonous-minutia you have seen this and @sweatershowgirl​ and @tatyana-dreaming​ you have not but all three of you are interested in this Act of Hubris, so...here you go! (there are spoilers in this liveblog)

Night of the Living Dead

well now they’re just Dead (except for a couple of principals. also spoiler alert these people keep coming back occasionally. don’t ask me. I was not one of the codirectors so idk)

“this production is sponsored by Adidas”

that one dude in the back obviously did not get the color memo

that or the costume department ran out of white/off-white shirts

JOHN!!!!!!! *heart eyes forever*

FANTASTIC chair setup

Nevers and Raoul are such a BROTP

spotlight’s on you buddy

also this viola d’amore solo is SO PRETTY

how is it that John Osborn is able to turn anything his voice touches into gold

also, UNBELIEVABLY PRECIOUS CHILD

It is a lovely morning in Touraine and you are a Bass Emerging From The Bog (not actually but...yeah) About To Crash A Party

“no, I already told you I needed twenty stuffed-crust pizzas from Medici’s for the Renaissance Faire!”

(I’m only half-kidding, as this is apparently supposed to be Catherine de Medici. yes, this production is weird. yes, it somehow works in the end. also it’s the most musically complete one on film)

you’re going to regret giving Marcel the megaphone

see? Marcel is just Ultimate Chaotic Energy

anyway this aria BOPS and Michele Pertusi is (as always) amazing

the valet (at right): “I do not get paid enough to deal with this shit”

RWS is so pretty *heart eyes*

@rayatii work your meme magic on this I know you can

also I guess this is supposed to be a farewell kiss or something?

also also I love how all the chorus people just start clapping

also also also I am the newspaper dude that is Such A Mood

Raoul please stop jumping to conclusions so quickly (although I will acknowledge that the kiss doesn’t really stem from canon)

tfw your fiancée breaks up with you the day before your wedding

Alexandre Duhamel is me jamming out to this chorus

*dies of Adorable Mezzo*

also: I don’t care that (according to behind-the-scenes video) Urbain is technically played as a woman in this production; I will proudly continue to say that this Urbain is wonderfully genderfluid because that was the Vibe I got

SASS HIM 

ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS

tfw you’re asked to go blindfolded to a Secret Rendezvous

he’s so freaking adorable I can’t

their energy

when you’re the new royal protégé but have no idea

magic movie makeover

off into the Great Unknown (better known as Act II)

we love the Old Hollywood Vibe

CAN I HAVE THIS OUTFIT IMMEDIATELY PLEASE AND THANK YOU

we stan both onstage instrumentalists and dancing sopranos

there’s just something about her and her voice that makes her one of my top 3 people I’ve ever seen or heard in this role

(her name is Ana Durlovski; the 2 others are singers you’ve likely heard of-- Lisette Oropesa and Joan Sutherland, with Erin Morley and Marlis Petersen not far behind)

I aspire to have her confidence and flair

everyone is Bopping feat. Costume Porn

also: sometimes the ideal Friend Group/Professional Network is a bunch of strong, confident, talented women, a strong, confident, talented, genderfluid director’s assistant, and one (1) Kindly Elderly Gay flutist (not pictured)

Léa Desandre and Anyone brings out wonderful energy

Urbain: “ma’am you are great at what you do but we are on a schedule and that schedule does not include you coloratura-ing”

we have no choice but to stan a QUEEN

Urbain: “really? the PUMPKIN PANTS?”

VALENTINE!!!!!!!!! *heart eyes forever for my favorite character in this opera*

stop being so perfect please I am begging you

Marguérite just checking in to make sure Valentine is okay is like *heart eyes forever for my SISTP. also I kinda ship them*

picture-perfect

WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT BEING SO PERFECT

“now we are going to call your douchebag of a father whom I have to act like I don’t despise so I can persuade him by hook or by crook to let you marry your dream guy”

aka Girls Supporting Girls

this aria should be done every time and LÉA YOU ARE KILLING ME HERE

ooh... (the ladies are INVESTED)

I would like to thank the directors for making this happen 

poor Valentine :(

Protect The Clueless Baby

Blinded By Spotlight, Round 2

iconic duo

twice the cadenza, twice the awesome

Raoul: I gotta admit that I’m a bit horny

Marguérite: okay maybe I am a little too BUT I am a good best friend so I’m not gonna do anything with you

Directors: *decide to end this duet with them making out*

Me: >:(

(John Osborn and Ana Durlovski though? LOVE THEM together)

Marguérite: oh shit I am officially regretting the last thirty seconds

also, tfw you walk in on your boss/crush/girl you just kissed making out with someone else you’ve barely met #awkward

CHILD

Urbain: well, you’re a person who...exists

“are you gonna get that?”

“no, are you?”

aka, the Nevers and Urbain Beef continues

someone’s on the phone please be quiet

also, something that happened a bit later but I couldn’t get into a screencap: Nevers has a very firm handshake while Saint-Bris has one like a limp fish

“yes we are all swearing eternal peace yes we are all friends no this will not implode within the next five minutes :)”

this moment is just SO CUTE

Raoul/Nevers BROTP (spoiler: that does not last long)

“here she comes...MISS AMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERICA”

RAOUL NO DON’T PUBLICLY HUMILIATE HER

the SLAP

this ensemble SLAPS

meanwhile, Marcel is just vibing and living his best life

Urbain: okay NO I NEED TO DO DAMAGE CONTROL HERE BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS FUCKED UP AND IF SOMEONE’S GONNA FIX IT IT’S ME

Marcel: but I wanna make Chaotic Energyyyyyyyyyyyy

“well that went well” said no one ever

[shimyereh]

Evens for the opera asks? Thank you!!

Thank you! Here they are, finally. (Under the cut for length.)

#2, 4, 6, 8, 10: [Already answered!]

12. Favorite clueless tenor?

It’s a tie between Hoffmann (Les contes d’Hoffmann) and the Duke of Dunstable (Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience).

14. A mezzo-soprano character you love?

Marfa in Khovanshchina. The three basses may be more politically/historically significant, but Marfa is the heart of this opera (and she gets some fantastic music!).

16. Create a hypothetical opera adaptation off of a classic novel (and cast it if you want!)

Edward Rutherfurd’s historical novels could be interesting material. (*checks shelf* I have two: Sarum and Russka.) The structure is a series of novellas, with each novella set in a different historical period, but always centered on a particular location and the same set of (fictional) families, so that you’re following them across time and seeing how they’re affected by history. You’d have to narrow the scope for an opera, maybe choose one particular novella, or a small set of scenes across eras where there are strong thematic parallels. I haven’t engaged with these books in a while, but I remember being moved to set passages to music when I was reading them, like arias from a hypothetical opera.

18. Best tenor/baritone relationship?

Skula and Yeroshka in Prince Igor are not particularly nice people, and I’m not sure I even find them sympathetic, but I’ve always thought they have a certain potential for Shenanigans. (*checks libretto* …oops, Skula is technically a bass.)

20. Favorite tenor singer?

I like Shicoff and Lemeshev a lot. They have pretty different timbres, so I like them in different sorts of things. Shicoff sings with so much passion, and has darker colors in his voice. Lemeshev is my go-to for a lot of Russian rep, including art songs. A lighter lyric voice, very well-suited to Lensky.

22. An opera that you do not vibe with. :(

I tried to watch Shchedrin’s Dead Souls when the Mariinsky had it up a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t quite get into it. It looked like a very dynamic staging, and I was curious about the folk music elements (I performed an aria from one of his other operas in a college recital once, and that was very folksy, too) — but this score didn’t catch my ear enough, and I was short on time while it was streaming, so I gave it a pass.

24. Favorite opera couple?

I’m not much of a shipper, but I think Ganna and Levko in May Night are a solid pairing. I also find Konchakovna and Vladimir in Prince Igor endearing, but maybe that’s less about character dynamics and more about how fabulously the voices blend in their duet. (Depending on the timbre of your mezzo and your tenor, it can be hard to tell who’s singing which lines! I love that.) I want to ship Olga and Lensky, but some productions of Onegin make that easier than others.

26. Favorite soprano singer?

I heard Krassimira Stoyanova in a few things recently, and thought her voice had some really interesting colors.

28. A character who deserved better?

So many. But isn’t that kind of the point in tragedies?

30. A Shakespeare play you’d like to see as an opera?

The Henry VI plays would be a *mess*, but I’d love to see someone try.

32. Your favorite secondary/minor character in an opera?

The Muse/Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann. Genderbending trickster sidekick whose goal is to get Hoffmann to stop falling in love with doomed ladies and focus on his writing. This character appeals to me in a lot of ways.

34. What would a gender-swapped version of your favorite opera (or any opera of your choice) look like?

Fun fact: There’s a discarded stanza from near the beginning of Ch.3 of the novel where Pushkin considered having Onegin fall in love with Tatyana after their first meeting, instead of the other way around. Maybe a gender-swapped Onegin could play off of that alternate storyline in some way? (I’m picturing a massive rewrite of the opera, with themes repurposed in meaningful ways. It would be highly controversial to a lot of people, but if done well it could be great fun.)

36. Favorite opera trope?

When they hang a lampshade on the tropes. Gilbert & Sullivan are very good at this.

38. Favorite mezzo-soprano singer?

Olga Borodina. A luxurious voice, somehow dark and bright at the same time.

40. You can steal one costume from an opera production to keep — what is it?

A few years ago, the local opera company had a costume sale to clear out some of their storage. I got this cravat for very cheap. It goes well with a number of my waistcoats and I have found many occasions to wear it.

42. Talk about an opera that you don’t normally talk about.

I watched a really interesting production of Charpentier’s David et Jonathas several years ago. The ballet sequences were repurposed into a series of staged flashbacks, which (among other things) introduced Saul’s wife and showed her death before the events of the main story. Then, in the scene where Saul consults with the Pythoness, the tenor who played the Pythoness was dressed as Saul’s wife. But his mannerisms made him read as some kind of otherworldly trickster. There was very much an unsettling sense of what are you and why are you wearing her face? The chorus women were also all dressed as Saul’s wife, and they drifted mindlessly around him as the walls of the set kept shifting and repartitioning into different rooms. The effect was fantastically creepy and contributed to the theme of Saul’s madness. I have no idea what this scene is usually like in a more traditional production.

44. An opera character you’d want for a best friend?

Muse/Nicklausse, again.

46. An opera you love more for the plot than for the music?

I saw the local opera company do Britten’s The Turn of the Screw a couple years ago. It was a very compelling piece of theater — wonderful acting from all the leads, shapeshifting dreamscape of a set. The music made very little impression on me.

48. Most musically difficult role you’ve seen/heard thus far?

Hermann in The Queen of Spades. He’s onstage almost constantly, and sings in every. single. scene. That must take incredible stamina.

50. An opera you’d recommend to opera newbies?

Maybe I’m not the best person to ask. I know what I like and I’m always excited to share my faves with people who seem interested, but the set of operas I’m familiar with is a little skewed. (As you can see by my other responses!)

[opera asks]

[akihsulkaz]

Junior Eurovision 2019 Pre-Show Top 19

So this is my first time looking forward to JESC since back then I couldn’t care less but like, hey why not for once? So here’s my top 19 before the show! It was unfortunate I didn’t end up posting my ranking for ESC 2019 but this is what you’ll get for now. 

Do remember that I’ll probably have quite different opinions than what others have. So please don’t go shitting on me for how I ranked/commented on the songs. Honestly the rankings from 7-12 feel quite interchangeable for me since I can’t really decide which I love more. But here goes my top 19 (with shitty commentary that’s probably outdated)!

19. Erin Mai - Calon yn Curo (Heart Beating) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 I’m gonna get so much hate for this. I just found it utterly boring. Other than that, the percussion seems too soft? And the strings are too loud. I just found it boring and near unlikeable for me for some reason.

18. Joana Almeida - Ven Camigo (Come With Me) 🇵🇹 When the first part of the song came in, I thought this was going to be some Electra Heart rip-off. But then the rest of the song came in and I knew this was definitely getting low. While I know this is Junior Eurovision, Joana's voice is just too…childish for me. Maybe I’m being too harsh since I’m typically not watching JESC. Other than that, I generally didn't like the melody nor the instrumental. The only thing I liked was the lyrics. Which is weird since I usually kinda like these types of songs? But it just didn’t come off as good.

17. Liza Misnikova - Pepelny (Ashen) 🇧🇾 This song reminded me a lot of "Like It," to be honest. Though funnily enough, I prefer Zena's vocals, but prefer this song's instrumentals. I actually enjoyed the instrumentals, the vocals and melody itself not too much. Though overall I'm not too much into it anyway, so yeah.

16. Isea Çili - Mikja ime fëmijëri 🇦🇱 I like the story/concept of the song though the lyrics itself seem pretty eh to me. Albania has some pretty good vocals in general so it's unsurprising even Isea has some, too. Though the song itself is also pretty bland for me, just like the singing itself.

15. Marta Viola - La Voce Della Terra 🇮🇹 I feel bad for putting it this low, especially when I usually rank Italy so high. I personally find it boring. That's not to say it's a bad song. But yeah, it's not that great for me. Marta's voice is good for the song, however. But it just doesn’t stand out that much for me.

14. Tatyana Mezhentseva and Denberel Oorzhak - A Time For Us 🇷🇺 Seeing the title, I was like, "What, like the mass song?" That was just random though, lol. I…actually liked it, and somehow unlike some others' opinions, I actually kinda like Denberel's voice. Though it has a weak start. I personally just really liked the last part and mostly just that, which is why it’s lower than I probably would’ve given.

13. Jordan Anthony - We Will Rise 🇦🇺 No offense to Aussies, but for some reason I don't really have high expectations for Australia's songs. But this song was actually really good in my opinion. Jordan's voice fits in with the song and it's overall just a nice song. Problem is, it's not overly nice nor does it stand out as much. But I think this might end up doing well.

12. Giorgi Rostiashvili - We Need Love 🇬🇪 I'm seeing that this song seems quite underrated. I personally enjoy it. It's a nice "feel-good" song. I always end up swaying my head to this song. Though I don't expect it to win, it's a personal favourite of mine and it's probably the song in the list I would listen to when I just want to sit down and get myself happy and stuff. Just overall a nice vibe.

11. Eliana Gomez Blanco - We Are More 🇲🇹 Me ranking the songs starting with “We” is pure coincidence. Anyways,wWhile I adore this song, it doesn't have as much kick as I would've probably liked for this. Especially for the chorus. The rest is good, and I really like her vocals. Though sidenote, Eliana looks really mature for her age, she probably looks older than I am haha.

10. Yerzhan Maxim - Armanyńnan Qalma 🇰🇿 This is an overly unpopular opinion. But boy, this song comes straight outta a Disney movie. And Disney songs are hella rad. I don't see people liking this song enough. Though that's fair seems it would feel more like a typical ballad. But this kid managed to make me like it. This is one of the songs I definitely don't think will win, but still deserves some love all the way.

9. Matheu - Dans Met Jou 🇳🇱 I have a feeling this song would do great in the televoting because a lot of people will probably get tired of the "SAVE THE WORLD!" message and just want a song about a guy and his dudes chillin' and dancin' with the girl he likes. And while I love the damn other songs, I can't help but liking it because it's such an upbeat and carefree song.

8. Karina Ignatyan - Colours of Your Dream 🇦🇲 This is a really catchy and upbeat song which pretty much says to colour your life with happiness and stuff. The vocals are nice and the beat definitely gets your groove as it stays true to its lyrics of feeling great.

7. Darija Vračević - Podigni Glas (Raise Your Voice) 🇷🇸 Okay, I heckin' love this one. Lyrics are nice, the song is quite consistent throughout, and I just really love the last part where they all drop down and didn't continue the line to say, "Oh look, it's too late now." And just hhhhhhh, I didn't have this as my favourite because while I have high praise for this song, it doesn't seem like a song people would vote for. Plus I feel like it won't stand out enough, plus Darija needs some little bit more improvement in her voice.

6. Anna Kearney - Banshee 🇮🇪 I feel like I speak for everyone when I say this song is probably better than most of the songs Ireland has recently sent in the ESC. I like this song as well, but I have fears that people might sleep on this. Plus I have a soft spot for fantasy-esque songs so lol. Anna’s voice is great and the message itself I find really nice.

5. Mila Moskov - Fire 🇲🇰 The chorus was stuck in my damn head the entire day. I love a good lot about this song, and I wished it was longer. But unfortunately, it isn't. I honestly don’t know what else to say about this, other than maybe the lyrics would’ve been nicer, but it’s still decent.

4. Carla - Bim Bam Toi 🇫🇷 I think everyone liked this song. And I agree. It's super duper fun and catchy and I actually like the dance in the music video and how much fun and enjoyment Carla has. It's a personal thing that I'm not too much of a fan of the non-singingish parts, but that's really only because I can't sing them without sounding/feeling too awkward. And I like singing the French songs since I actually can read partial French so yeah. Overall, really neat song, but not my winner.

3. Sophia Ivanko - The Spirit of Music 🇺🇦 This song is the number one candidate of "songs that need to be longer." I love it. It's a nice and simple song and boy, I just love those "hoo"s. Maybe because I just like birds and to that owls, but I really do. It's my favourite part of the song.

2. Melani Garcia - Marte 🇪🇸 A lot of the entries this year pertains to saving Earth, but Marte focuses more on saving the ocean in line to saving the world. And can I just say how much I love the high notes? This kid can sing! I was actually contemplating if I would put this in first, but ended up putting it at a close second.

1. Viki Gabor - Superhero 🇵🇱 You know what always ends up being such bops? Pop songs about saving the world, that is! This was one of the songs I instantly loved from the moment I began listening to it. I can definitely feel myself dancing along to the song and such. This was also one of the songs I wished was just longer.

So yeah that’s all! Good luck to everyone^^

[weirdohippiefreaky]

These are the waves I know, I know. These are the waves I know

Had another shitty day at work. My manager SO hates me. She's barely even hiding her contempt at this point. It just seemed like every damn call I needed to call in the supervisor queue. I started to get frustrated at times. I was messaging with that Russian chick Tatyana a wee bit. She seems really sweet but not getting my hopes up (Plus she read my latest message and still hasn't responded since I mentioned my great grandparents spoke Yiddish in addition to Russian. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but there is still a lot of anti-Semitism in Russia). As I was driving to get the boys, I decided to listen to a YouTube video on why online dating sucks. Those usually cheer me up a bit knowing most other men experience the same misery I do. I put on a woman talking about how to make it better for women. I thought maybe that would be entertaining too, but it quickly began to stress me out. It's so stupid, but when the young woman giving the tutorial suggested "finding the right dating app for you" all while kinda suggesting doing all the same traditional things women do: waiting for the man to message first, to carry the conversation, to pretty much do all the pursuing and still kinda playing hard to get, etc. I suddenly yelled at my phone "MAYBE IT WOULDN'T SUCK FOR YOU IF YOU ACTUALLY TOOK SOME INITIATIVE IN FINDING A MAN". I started to feel that empty pit in my stomach and throat...that all too familiar feeling of panic combined with anger. I shut that video off and played some Joan Baez. I found myself getting a little shorter with the boys after I picked them up. Oy. I feel a little better now (medical cannabis to the rescue) but it was a feeling I haven't had in a while and it really blows. I guess I’m starting to feel pressure from my shitty job and losing my friend with benefits.  Booooooooo

[mythicallore]

Bizarre Stories of Teleportation Pt. 4

    A very well known and controversial account of human teleportation supposedly occurred in 1968, when a Dr. Geraldo Vidal and his wife, Raffo de Vidal, apparently teleported a great distance along with their whole car. In May of 1968, the couple was reportedly driving their Peugeot 403 along a remote, rural road in Chascomus, Prov. of Buenos Aires, Argentina, when they claimed that they were suddenly enveloped by a thick fog that thoroughly ensconced them. The Vidals would allegedly not make it to their destination on time, where concerned family members were waiting for them. A search of the road the Vidals had taken turned up no trace of them, baffling family and authorities at the time. 48 hours later, Geraldo Vidal phoned family to tell them that they were safe but inexplicably in Mexico City, a full 6,400 km away.

Vidal would later claim that they had no memory of what had happened in the 48 hours that they had been gone, and only knew that they had encountered a strange heavy fog, after which everything had gone black. When they had regained consciousness they had found themselves parked along a road they had never seen before. They both complained that at the time they had a pain in their necks and felt as if they had been sleeping too long. When they had stepped out of the car, their vehicle appeared to have been burned, as if badly damaged by “a blowtorch.” Despite this damage, the car still worked, and the confused couple had then driven off down the road, and after asking several passerby where they were quickly ascertained that they were in Mexico, far from where they had originally been last they remembered.

Ominously, the Argentinean Consulate in Mexico City was apparently extremely adamant that the couple remain quiet about what they think had happened, and there was the sense that the whole case was being quieted and covered up. Additionally, the couple were quickly given a replacement vehicle even as their own battered car was shipped away to apparently be studied. Despite the order to remain silent on the mysterious events that had transpired, it was not long at all before various news agencies were reporting on the bizarre case, including numerous newspapers, TV news, and radio shows. Weeks after this sudden media blitz, a “cloak of silence” was instigated, all news outlets were suddenly and inexplicably forcefully banned from covering the story, and they were denied further access to information or those involved. In the years after the alleged strange events, the Vidals were said to have had a nervous breakdown due to the bizarre events they had undergone, and some sources have even claimed that they both mysteriously died of leukemia. The case eventually became one of the weirdest, most baffling, and most talked about cases within the realm of UFOlogy and Forteana, and was written of in countless articles and publications.

The Vidal case has been intensely debated and picked apart, and is filled with so many conflicting facts and reports that is is hard to ascertain where the truth ends and possible exaggeration and misinformation begins. There have been many theories as to what transpired, such as that this was a case of spontaneous teleportation or a UFO abduction. A more skeptical approach has been taken by Argentinean journalist and researcher Alejandro C. Agostinelli, who thinks that the whole story was a hoax to promote a science fiction movie released only 2 months after the alleged events, entitled Che OVNI. The movie was released to critical derision, failure, and was quickly forgotten, but not only does Agostinelli claim that the film’s director, Anibal Uset, admitted to the sham in a 1996 interview, but the plot of the film also mirrors the Vidal case pretty closely, focusing a great deal on UFO abduction and teleportation. There was also the fact that most of the case was based on hearsay and rumors, with very little concrete evidence to corroborate any of the depicted events of the case having ever actually happened, essentially propelling it into the status of urban legend.

Despite the accusation that the whole Vidal case was a hoax and a fraud to drum up publicity for a movie, things were apparently pretty bizarre throughout, with Uset often coming across people saying that they had known the Vidals and alarming him with the way the case was so widely believed and had achieved such popular iconic status. It got to the point where Uset started to get paranoid with all of the strangeness floating about the story and to doubt his grasp on reality, saying:

So many people approached me to say that they had known the Vidals that I began to have doubts. What is more, the confusion was such that I began to think that our story coincided with something that had really happened.

This strange confession makes the whole thing even more bizarre, and gives it all almost a surreal spin. If Uset really was behind orchestrating the whole Vidal case, which had been hotly discussed and picked apart to no end, then why should he be so surprised and express doubt that it was a hoax that he had in fact created? What was going on here? Agostinelli would later remark on this peculiar detail and the whole phenomenon of such stories in general thus:

At the time, the fact he questioned his own creation startled me. But I think that this helps to understand how UFO stories are built along with many other modern myths. If even a hoaxer can be led to doubt, this means that mysteries are able to overcome any denial. That’s why I think myths are indestructible. Countless teleportation cases have occurred in Argentina and around the world, but the Vidal Case was a lie.

There is no concrete evidence to prove without a doubt that the Vidal case was a hoax for promoting a film, and there are indeed other conspiracy theories floating about as well, but neither is there any to show that it ever existed beyond rumor and spooky lore. There continues to be a good amount of debate and controversy surrounding the Vidal case, and it seems that it still has not been satisfactorily resolved for a great many people.

At times, cases of teleportation involve what seems to be passing through doors, only rather than moving to another room of a house these doorways transport us through space and perhaps even time to move us to another far away location altogether. In 1971, an Al Kiessig claimed that he had uncovered several doorways or vortices of some sort in the U.S. states of Missouri and Arkansas, which allowed for instantaneous teleportation from place to place via travel through other dimensions. According to Kiessig, one could walk through these doorways and instantaneously end up miles away from where they had entered. He explained about these doorways and their varied strangeness:

Each door is different, but it is my belief that if one conId recognize these door openings, one could pick the door in Arkansas that would permit me to step into your front yard in Iowa. I have entered these ‘doorways’ while driving and saved myself hundreds of miles of driving. Unfortunately, the reverse has also happened to me. Some of these doors to other dimensions open like an elevator door with no elevator there to step into. Others open into a land of no life. Some take you back into the past, and some take you into the future on this world. Then there are doors that open into chambers that send the body to a distant star.

What does this all mean? Is there anything to this oddness or is this the ramblings of a seriously disturbed or delusional individual? It is hard to say for sure. Even more recent is the case of a homeless boy in Ivory Coast, Africa, who was discovered by Fortean researcher Ion Alexis Will in August of 1993. As Will was passing through a rural area called Yamoussoukro, he came across a Catholic church called St. Augustin, where the priests there complained of a 9-year-old boy who had an unsettling habit of disappearing from his locked quarters only to reappear in strange places such as within locked cars or other areas where he had absolutely no business being. On another occasion, the boy had vanished into thin air in front of many startled witnesses as he ate breakfast, only to be found in a dazed and confused state some distance outside of the church. An investigation into the strange boy’s background found that he had been originally found in a town about 155 miles away in a trance-like state. Further investigation would turn up even more bizarreness.

The boy, who’s actual name was N’Doua Kouname Serge, had vanished under strange circumstances when he was just 5 years old, vanishing from a hospital in Tiassalé, in Ivory Coast, only to suddenly and unexplainably end up in San Pedro, a full 200 miles away. The boy’s father had gone to pick him up, only for him to vanish and reappear again 410 miles away in confused state in a town called Odienné. He would go on to make several other spontaneous jumps to various other cities around the country, often spending months or even years in each far flung location, during which time some of his benefactors would come to the conclusion that he was possessed by an evil spirit which could teleport him. When asked by a reporter on how he could suddenly jump from place to place so rapidly, the boy himself reportedly said: “I don’t know. I’m here, and suddenly I find myself in another town.”

Even more recent is a series of strange teleportations that were reported on in a 2009 article on Pravda Report entitled “Lightning Can Open Doors to Parallel Worlds.” In one report, a UFO researcher named Tatyana Faminskaya allegedly teleported two times, during which she claimed that she could not feel anything during the process, but would simply wake up in another place. A woman named Lidia Nikolaeva, from Novy Byt village in Russia, claimed that she had been out picking mushrooms when she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. When she came to her senses, she found herself deposited at an abandoned church around 3.3 miles from where she had been. Just what is going on here? Do these people have access to powers or abilities that remain hidden to the common masses?

What are we to make of cases such as these? Are these merely hallucinations or flights of fancy, or is there something more at work here that is worth pursuing in an effort to understand it? If these individuals have somehow pressed through some barrier to jump from one place to the other, then how have they done it? How can it be possible and how can such a thing fit into the universe as we understand it? Even as science pursues the very real concepts and theories of how teleportation may someday actually be possible, the reality of real teleportation of a human being remains far out on the outer fringes of the scientific horizon, yet for some mysterious individuals it may be closer than we think.