#ludwig das kind

[dreamconsumer]

Louis the Child (893-911), King of East Francia and Lotharingia. Illustration from "Die Deutschen Kaiser", by Max Barack (Julius Hoffmann, Stuttgart, c.1873).

[eldritch-spouse]

What was Patches doing before he became involved with the Clergy's construction? And what was his first encounter with Krulu and his vessel like?

[I know I have this more organized somewhere...]

Patches was, to put it bluntly, fucking around.

Having already come into his new identity as an undead by a long while, as well as not only discovering but learning to communicate with his unrequited second, Patches' attention had deviated from his study of higher beings to the realities he was confronted with rather forcefully.

First and foremost, he had spent a decent chunk of his time documenting the changes his body underwent as an undead. Because Patches didn't just wake up green, with a pumpkin for a head and a brilliant innate ability to understand his dullahan powers. He needed to study himself, his newfound inclinations, his strange episodes of "unconscious activity" (Stitches). This helped the monster distract himself from the existential grief of being dead, of realizing he missed many opportunities when he was alive.

At some point, that study deviated from knowing himself, to knowing the types of magic he was now having a lot more ease cultivating. Because, naturally, being a monster allows him to retain a lot more magical potential. This took a massive length of time, explaining why he's as clever and apt with several types of magic as he is. Lending special attention to the undead, fire and plant types.

Patches had been living his life still pursuing his various studies and finding ways to integrate himself in various societies, in certain areas of the world where monster populations were highest.

At this point in time his perception of his identity when alive has been deteriorated. He no longer remembers his birth name (Fábio da Cruz) or his appearance, and the artifacts that would allow him to recall how he looked are gone as well. His clothes, his head/skull, his first notes, gone. He knows only the name he'd been given by some, Patches.

This, in turn, is how he meets the triplets. At a concert, actually. Although certainly not reborn in that time period, Patches witnessed the birth of metal, rock and adjacent genres. He met the demon brothers at some kind of mental concert, having lost himself in a metal head phase. One thing leads to another and he's getting drunk with the three, then his head is being used as a punch bowl, and the night ends with everyone limp as corpse on the ground.

They become unlikely friends, especially Ludwig and Patches specifically.

Becoming a trusted friend, Patches gets to witness the moment in time where Ludwig meets you/Admin. He's present when things get difficult, when Lud's crush becomes the vessel to something so much bigger than everything they'd ever seen up until then.

And the sight, the notion, of a siadar on Earth rekindles the fanatic interest he once sported, the thing that got him killed.

It can't be said that Patches' intentions to help Ludwig help you/Admin create The Clergy's Eye are entirely selfless. Sure, he wants to get his friend out of a hard time, but he mostly wants to get closer to the literal god.

It turns out his skulls are useful enough to keep him in close contact with you/Admin and Ludwig during the initial stages of The Clergy's Eye's creation. He becomes a core of the project, gets to see powers and abilities beyond his understanding, gets to have that observation-participation data he so desperately scraped for when he was alive.

Patches knows that, at some point, he was essentially selling himself to an entity of dubious moral standing for answers to questions he'd been plagued with. But why should he care, right? He's already dead, he has nothing to lose.

He's technically the second worker of the establishment. The first being Ludwig, who eventually distances himself.

[gefallene-quengel]

Since the days of Tatort München are counted, here's a list of things I want to happen in the last episodes:

Franz und Ivo müssen sich random als Ehepaar ausgeben, vielleicht während sie wen beschatten ("Schau mal... Liebling... Die Gardinen könnten doch zum Wohnzimmerteppich passen")

callback to any of the older episodes (bonus point for any kind of carlo mention or dropping an episode by its name)

fourth-wall break (Kalli schaut in die Kamera und sagt: "Seit über 30 Jahren sind die schon so drauf")

Ludwig (meinetwegen auch nur kurze Erwähnung im Nebensatz)

Franz zu Ivo: "Denkst du in einem anderen Universum bin ich dich endlich los?" Cut zu Udo und Miro in Setstühlen, die nur betreten den Kopf schütteln

Ivo kocht mal wieder

Eberhofer Anspielung

Franz ukd Ivo sind beide krank und Kalli muss alleine ermitteln

casuale Erwähnung, was sie alle in der Quarantäne getan haben (Franz hat seine Platten umsortiert und neue auf Ebay Kleinanzeigen erworben; Ivo ist ständig more or less legal nach Kroatien gefahren und Kalli hat sich selbst Stricken beigebracht

Kalli rockt den schwarzen Rolli Franz-style (in derselben Folge trägt Franz gleichzeitig auch endlich mal wieder einen Rolli und Kalli sagt: "Och Mensch, man könnt ja fast meinen, das wäre geplant gewesen")

Feel free to add something.

[shabbytigers]

so i know i'm not the first to mention something like this, but owell-

when i was in deutschland to learn deutsch, i found a way to progress at low effort:

select a movie you (think you'll) like, with sufficiently good dialogue

watch the movie in a language you understand easily

watch it again immediately after, but in deutsch and with the word-for-word subtitles

i did it with Ludwig (1973) (the full version) and gained like. a whole-ass month of progress. in a day. it's fucking ✨magic✨

(i also recommend listening to the swiss goth band Lacrimosa because: their songs are written in perfect and somewhat elaborate Hochdeutsch, the words are sung majoritarily in a decipherable way, the easily found translations into English are pretty good, it's more practical to listen to music than to watch movies while doing other things, and i fucking love them. (other music can also work ofc, just I know this enough to say the above confidently))

I do not doubt this advice.

You know how I’m obsessed with Wings of Desire / Der Himmel Über Berlin (1987), which is invariably ime shown in German with English subtitles? Given that the script is mostly somewhere between poetic and high, it’s wild how often having watched that movie a fair number of times actually helps me with my German. “Als das Kind, Kind war,” I mumble to myself as I deploy yet another subordinating conjunction, etc, etc.

You know what else has been stupidly helpful? Einstürzende Neubauten. Blixa’s enunciation is pellucid and I should really listen to more of the EN catalog more often.

Idk about Lacrimosa but I’ll certainly check them out. Probably yes beneficial to find another good movie in German I can do the thing with, too, only I am almost impossible to please wrt movies and tv (it net-drains my energy even watching stuff in English, tbh—it’s not a veg-out activity for me) so idk.

If a really great German movie comes out with reasonable enunciation and sound mixing—that is not mostly camera-shaking car crash and/or violence driven plots which tend to bore me witless since I am a caricature of an effete old metrosexual—could anyone who is reading this and happens to remember please alert me to go see it, thanks in advance!

[pastel-medic]

Do the mercs often interact with their other team counterparts? (other than the Medics of course) Do they have opinions of eachother? :0

Sort of! Aside from the Medic brothers I can summarize a small list of the dynamics between the counterparts!

The Scouts sorta get along somewhat, tho they do bicker like most siblings would like getting in brawls or calling each other names :P (Only reason Theo is a bit nicer to him is because they have a shared dislike for Pierre)

The Pyros may as well be besties cuz they immediately act as if they grew up together 💖 If they were left to their own devices they'd probably burn both bases down in a matter of seconds (also Kasai is much shyer than Cyrus)

The Soldiers kinda dunk on each other constantly and nobody can tell if it's all in good fun or if they genuinely are trying to one up the other. Who knows? Could be both!

The Heavys are casually polite to each other but otherwise don't ever interact with one another. They do talk to each other about their families tho! It's kind of a comforting way for them to not forget that the enemy they kill each match are also living people with their own lives

The Engineers get along very well and have actually collaborated on a few projects together under the Administrator's nose :3c their mutual respect has its limits tho, they do know better than to get too friendly with the enemy

The Demos are kinda like long distance friends! They go out to drink once or twice every few months to catch up. Only reason the Administrator hasn't done anything about this is cuz Tavish always forgets they're friends (cuz of da brain scooping from Ludwig) after hanging out so he's still ruthless during matches, yet he has their hang out days marked on his calendar so he doesn't forget to meet up

The Snipers are like oil and water. Neither get along but they also don't hate on the other. Assassins are polite and respectful after all! Also Austin is a rambler kind of talker while Ethan is completely mute and simply listens

The Spies don't talk to each other much even tho they are aware of their familial relation (that doesn't mean they don't care of course >_> they just hide it very well). Maxime tends to talk more to Axel tho in terms of whose sibling relationship is stronger. Pierre keeps to himself a lot so he barely has much a bond with them

Their opinion of their teammates' counterparts tho is a whole different story and I'm not about to make an ENTIRE blog post about that or it'll be too long and boring 😂

[breitzbachbea]

dunno enough about your fav hetalia ships, so feel free to just attach it to the most fitting favourites

OTP (or ship of choice) has to suddenly take care of a child or (feral) animal, how would they react? who would do well

who would be a karen at a restaurant for their patner(s) who got a wrong order at the restaurant, how would both react?

who is the most likely to be completely oblivious while the other is constantly trying to confess their feelings, maybe even actually doing it but person a just doesnt get it? how would they finally find out ?

I'll try to answer something for all of those! Sorry if it isn't all primarily related, da OC AU brainrot ...

Herakles has tons of stray cats at home and the track record with Sadık is mixed. He loves the cats in general and many like him, some don't, some are indifferent. There is one black kitten that loves him more than it does Herakles and he dotes on it so endlessly. It responds without a fail to "Kedicik." I hope I used the right I's.

Not the Karen thing, but restaurant related - Michele (Sicily OC) has had a few occassions where he wanted go beat Paddy over the head with the bread basket. (Paddy is a Human OC and basically a kind of surrogate father/uncle figure for Harry, my Ireland OC). Paddy so shamelessly asks for more food and in general does things that Michele finds rude/embarassing. Harry is lucky he's so fuckable and literally the man of Michele's dreams, bc his aversion of father figures makes Paddy a NIGHTMARE.

Honestly, kinda GerIta behaviour. Still. on my ao3 (also breitzbachbea) I have a very recent GerIta fanfic called Two hearts alas! reside in my chest, where two of Ludwig's friends try to figure out a) if Feli is flirting and b) if Ludwig is gonna notice it.

[textingtroublesanswers]

Hah… that makes two of us, that’s definitely a struggle on my part. Social cues are very difficult to read, to be fair. But omg I am just so happy for you two! I can’t wait to see what kind of personalities the little ones will have when their older, wonder which one will become the wild child like their mom/dad… hehe 🤭 How did the others react when they knew you were expecting Medic? I’m sure it was quite the shock. Scouts reaction was probably the funniest

Ludwig looks up at Mikhail with a grin, "I think they meant you when they talked about a 'wild child'."

"Doktor!"

Ludwig giggles, "Hoo, I may have all the necessary parts, but I am most decidedly a man & not a woman. As for the team's reactions," He shrugs, "Well, I wasn't there to see it."

Mikhail groans, knowing he will have to tell this part of the story, "Engineer give me earful. Sounded like my mama," Misha tries, but fails, to imitate Dell's Texan accent, "What you think you are doing, boy? If I hear you hurt doktor, I will show you how we deal with men like that in Texas!"

Ludwig looks mortified, "Dell said that? To you?"

Mikhail hangs his head, "Da. Pyro & Scout were not better," Now he is trying to imitate Scout's Boston accent, "What sort of boyfriend are you! Doktor got kidnapped, & all you can say is 'oops?' Take responsibility, lardass. Blah, blah."

Ludwig doesn't know if he should laugh or cry, "At least... At least it's nice to know the team cares?"

Mikhail sighs, "Everyone on team loves doktor, but Heavy loves doktor most & would never hurt him."

"Of course not, Lieber."

"Da. Oh, but Soldier's reaction was funniest."

"Oh, was it?"

"He say: it was long time coming."

Ludwig, once again, looks mortified. He covers his face with his hands & groans.

[ambrosethepoet]

Die liebsten Gedichte des Königs (1/12)

Beginnen wir mit einer hochgeliebten Ballade von König Ludwig II. von Bayern. Dieses nachtschwere Gedicht drückt Ludwigs Hang zur Romantik, aber auch seine tiefe, ewige Todessehnsucht aus. Um Missverständnissen vorzubeugen: Ludwig suchte nach der Ewigkeit, dem Unzerstörbaren, dem Erhabenen. Er erkannte jedoch, dass alles auf dieser Welt zerstörbar ist. Vielleicht faszinierten ihn deshalb das Motiv von Tod und Erlösung? Der Erlkönig stillte seinen poetischen Durst nach diesem dunklen Elixier...

Erlkönig

1782.

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm. Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht? — Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? Den Erlenkönig mit Kron’ und Schweif? — Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif. — „Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel’ ich mit dir; Manch’ bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand, Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.“ — Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht, Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht? — Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind. — „Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.“ — Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort? — Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh’ es genau: Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. — „Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt; Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch’ ich Gewalt.“ — Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan! — Dem Vater grauset’s; er reitet geschwind, Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind, Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not; In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[opera-ghosts]

„WALKÜRE“ R. WAGNER / THIRD ACT

„DIES EINE MUSST DU ERHÖREN! ZERKNICKE DEIN KIND, DAS DEIN KNIE UMFASST“

Wotans and Brünnhildes

? as Wotan and ? as Brünnhilde; Nantes, 1903

Baptist Hoffmann as Wotan and Melanie Kurt as Brünnhilde; Berlin, ?

Alfred Jerger as Wotan and Käthe Rantzau as Brünnhilde; Vienna, 1924

Rudolf Bockelmann as Wotan and Nanny Larsén-Todsen as Brünnhilde; Bayreuth, 1927

Ludwig Hofmann as Wotan and Nanny Larsén-Todsen as Brünnhilde; Zoppot (Waldoper), 1934

Wilhelm Rode as Wotan and Henny Trundt as Brünnhilde; Munich, 1933

Rudolf Bockelmann as Wotan and Frida Leider as Brunnhilde; Bayreuth, 1936

[koolkat9]

Rarepair Week 2023 - Day 5

@hetalia-rarepairweek

Prompt: Historical || Meet the Family

Rating: T

Pairing: GerCan

Word Count: 900

Read on AO3

Cw: Temporary character death, violence, minor depictions of blood

Forgiveness

Matthew had always thrived in the quiet and shadows. Soft steps, never heard until it was too late. For decades it had gotten him into trouble or left him overlooked, but now, in war, it was his time.

He wanted to be a pacifist. He saw the damage war did to his guardians' bodies. Blood still made him squirm, even after years of caretaking. He didn’t want to think of how much of his family’s blood splattered his hands. Some nights, he dreamed it was still there.

But now…Now it didn’t have to be that way.

He crept across No Man’s Land, Arthur and a handful of their men in tow. Approaching the enemy trench, Matthew peeked in, ears perked to the slightest sound. He nodded to the others when he deemed the coast clear.

Without a sound, he jumped into the trench. Always forgotten, always overlooked, and now it would be his advantage. Stalking through the muddy walls, across the duck boards, mindful of how much they made them creak. They’d have company soon, Matthew could tell. He had been on enough raids that he formed an intuition.

“Wer ist da?” the darkness called ahead.

Everyone froze, breath held tight in their throats.

“Ich schieße.”

Matthew reached for his knife.

“Matthew…” Arthur warned, voice low, “Don’t be rash now–” A bullet nicked his shoulder. He took in a sharp breath. “Matthew–”

But Matthew had already bolted into the thrush of darkness.

It was all a blur. Killing often was. Red splattering across his vision, the distant sound of screams. It seemed far away, but natural. Too natural.

Ludwig lay before him in a puddle of his own blood. Matthew’s stomach jumped to his throat and yet…he was grinning. He hated it, yet he just kept staring.

“Matthew…You–” Arthur’s words died in his throat, eyes landing on Ludwig. “Oh Matthew…”

Arthur reached for him, but Matthew jerked away, stepping over the body as if nothing had happened.

— — —

Back and forth. Creak, squeak. Something needed to be oiled, but Matthew was too comfortable against the chest of his lover to care. It may have been sweltering, so much so they had discarded their shirts long ago, but Matthew refused to let it ruin his cuddle time.

Fingers trailed along the scars that sprinkled his lover’s torso and chest. Scars put there by him.

Back then he had been blinded by rage and revenge. Failing to realize the bigger picture. Now, in an era of peace, somehow Matthew had found himself falling for the man he wouldn’t hesitate to turn into Swiss cheese with bullet wounds not even a century ago.

The hot summer day spent curled up together on a porch swing couldn’t have been more different from the wet cold night of a trench raid when every fiber had to be on high alert. When the animalistic desire deep within him battled to be free. When it often won.

Each time his fingertips bumped along the jagged skin, a sick kind of pleasure bubbled from deep within Matthew. He did all that. He couldn’t tell if it was his lingering rage from the world wars or a sense of possessiveness that Ludwig was his. That in a way, those marks made Ludwig his. Regardless, Matthew was disgusted with himself.

Nations were bred for war. For violence. At least that’s what Arthur always said. That it was in their nature to be possessive, to solve their problems with a sword or gun or whatever was the popular weapon of the time. Matthew only saw it as an excuse. He had vowed to never be like Arthur. To never be like Francis. Or any of those empires who practically fed on the blood of their enemies.

But he failed. He was just like the rest of them. A sick, twisted, monster.

Yet…Ludwig lay there with him. Eyes closed in bliss despite the heat and sweaty body against him. Completely defenseless. How they could forgive each other after everything was lost on even Matthew who forgave so easily.

“You’re lost in that head of yours again aren’t you?” Ludwig’s voice broke through the train of thought.

“Huh…Wha–”

Ludwig’s chest rumbled with a chuckle. Matthew liked it when Ludwig laughed. At least he could say he preferred it over his screams of agony.

“I’m serious though Matt. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. I–”

Matthew pressed his lips against Ludwigs, lazily rolling them against his lovers. He kept Ludwig in place with a single hand pushing gently against his chest. He licked into Ludwig’s mouth, Ludwig gripped Matthew’s thigh, timid tongue meeting Matthew’s.

“Don’t…Don’t think you’ve distracted me,” Ludwig panted, eyes glassy, “I will find out what’s wrong–”

Another kiss. Even longer and slower than the last. “Fine…Something’s up but…I just need you and I’ll be fine.”

Ludwig searched Matthew’s eyes. Desire burned deep within, but also cold, pained desperation. He shivered as Matthew’s fingers traveled over an old stab wound, long since scarred. A wound put there by Matthew. Ah. That was it, wasn’t it?

“Okay…” Ludwig agreed, voice careful, “Okay. But let’s take this inside.”

He pulled Matthew up to his feet, arms wrapping around him for a quick embrace. Noses brushing, Ludwig whispered: “I love you.”

A small smile spread across Matthew’s lips, eyes shifting down to his feet. Bashful. Cute. “I love you too.”

Translation

Wer ist da = Who’s there?

Ich schieße = I’ll shoot

[chiptune-maestro]

[ A tapping sound can be heard from the window for a few moments before it slides right open, a familiar RED spybot with splotches of paint on its hull crawling through it and into the room- Pascal. ]

HEYY! UH.. SORRY THAT I WAS KIND OF A JERK TO YOU LAST TIME WE SPOKE. BUT CAN I ASK YOU FOR A FAVOUR?

-@mentally-vivid-spybot

GGAH!!

[ sylvester startles, staring at the bot with distaste as it slipped into the medbay window. what he was doing there? taking care of ludwig's doves, now that they knew how. ludwig was out sick, it was the least they could do for saving their da-- erhem, friend. ]

[ a dove flies from their hand as they scowl. ]

WHHY YYOU-

[ they storm up to him and point, very unhappy to see them. ]

RUNNING rage.exe . . .

YYOU PPRETEND YYOU KNNOW MMORE THHAN II DDO AABOUT THHE VVERY THHINGS II WWAS PPROGRAMMED FFOR, YYOU SSPEAK TTO MME WWITH SSUCH DDISSMISSAL, YYOU BBREAK IINTO MMY HHOUSE, AAND NNOW YYOU WWANT MME TTO HHELP YYOU??-

[ they pause. taking a moment to whirr quietly, to process, to stop their rushing mind. close a few tabs, if you will. they close their eyes and mimic a deep breath in, and then a deep breath out. their cooling fans spin at full force. ]

...

WWHAT IIS IIT YYOU NNEED.

[ they say, calmer, but still very much agitated. ]

[eldritch-spouse]

Hello bestie Sinnie!! I am but a humble disciple asking you to impart anything and everything you feel like you shouldn't, any hc's, any outrageous thoughts or kinks, anything, about any one of your characters of choice!!! (I'm so sorry if this is Insanely vague but I so so so wanna be taken out by a chair to the knees fact, and also you absolutely deserve to impart any type of rabid/unhinged thoughts about your OWN CHARACTERS (A.K.A the PCU)

Also thought of Santi and Vesper and also you whenever I think of this

[HHh- You're killing me with the vague asks, pls.]

I'm just going to toss random bullshit at you, gomen. These aren't particularly shocking.

Random factoids (also a sketch)

Patches' name while alive was "Fábio da Cruz", his first dullahan head was his own macerated skull (because the flesh had begun to rot). He used to wear a veil over it because he was ashamed of it and couldn't animate the bone the same way he animates his current head;

Ludwig not-so-secretly wants a rug/carpet made out of a person;

Kalymir is jokingly called Clifford (the Big Red Dog) by the other Icons- He hates it;

The Clergy's gargoyles think Belo is fucking hideous, they kind of pity him. Pebble, on the other hand, is superbly attractive to them;

"Slimy bastard", or the use of "slimy" as an insult will make Gallon rip one of your limbs off. Rude;

Shags has a sketchbook with elaborate drawings of every person kidnapped, every "failed inspiration" as he puts it;

The ruler of Limbo has gotten powerful enough to kill a siadar;

I never showed you this, but Shags' parents are basically planned out, here are concept sketches. They're both ink caps as well, workaholics who moved out of the city for some peace of mind.

Entirely unrelated, but I've wanted to make a neomorph-ish oc for way too God damn long, and I want the whole scenario to be so dark. I just need to learn to draw them differently, better.

And this concludes the odd trivia section of our program. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lichtecht]

PART 3

of the dfk 2023 audiobook translation

@cnka

Uli: „This here is our school and over there on the mountain is the boarding school.“

Some kid: „Let’s go!“

Narrator (audiobook): They enter the skate park and are welcomed by a girl.

Sebi, one of the Externs, throws something at Jo, who’s sitting on a wall of the skating rink.

Sebi: „Get lost!“ Jo: „Hey! Idiot.“ Matze: „Ah, there’s Jo. You share a room.“ Jo: „Hey! Oh shit, the new girl… Forgot about that. Sorry. I’m Jo.“

(Note: the text isn’t in the movie, this is the best picture of the scene that i could find.)

Martina: „Hi. I’m Martina.“ Jo: „Interesting look… Vintage, huh? Urban…“ Jo: „Do you happen to know how to skate? Try out the new rink, it’s so cool-“ Uli: „Jo, she can’t use it.“ Jo: „…Okay…" (muttered) "You’re all Spießer...“

Narrator (audiobook): Jo cares little about the rules, walks over to the wall where the skate park is and pulls out a bottle of spray paint.

Uli: „Jo, what are you doing!“

Narrator (audiobook): It’s fairly obvious what Jo is doing; she is spraying the letters „FCK“ as well as the word „EXTERNE“ on the wall. „FCK EXTERNE“. And you can guess what obscene english word that is short for.

Jo: „Do you want some?“ She throws Martina a spray can. Uli: „You can’t just spray on the brand new wall!“ Matze: „FCK… Is that a sports club?“ Jo: „(laughs) Matze is an ace in English…“ Uli: „That isn’t correct English though.“

Ruda appears behind them.

Matze: „Shit, Externe!“ Jo: „Yeah, basically.“ Matze: „No, really, Externe!“

Music starts playing.

Narrator (audiobook): But too late. Ruda and her friends Sebi, Musti and Egerland have already noticed them.

Jo: „Shit, shit-” Ruda: „Fuck off, thats ours!!“

A chase through the streets of Kirchberg begins.

Narrator (audiobook): Our friends are being chased through the town by the Externs. Matze is carrying Martina’s suitcase under his arm while the four of them run away from the others.

Narrator (audiobook): They’re struggling not to lose their small head start. Jo has an idea.

Jo: „We need to get rid of the suitcase! We’ll be faster!“

Narrator (audiobook): Jo doesn’t spend time stalling. She grabs the suitcase from Matze and throws it over an old wall without looking over to the other side.

Car alarms start blaring.

Martina: „It’s gonna break!! Uh-oh.“ Jo: „Oh, SHIT!!“ Matze: „Shit!“ Uli: „Crap!“

Narrator (audiobook): The car alarm means nothing good, so the Internals quickly run away. And indeed; Jo should have checked the other side, because behind it is parking a custodian’s van. The suitcase has left quite a dent in the car. The custodian, who just returned to his van, is dumbfounded.

(Note: the text on the van translates to: "If there are dead people, call Rothe!") (Another note: i find it kind of funny that the audiobook translator exaggerates the custodian's reaction so much. cause its literally just "hm?")

The kids slip through an old wooden door and find themselves on a small path through trees.

Jo, who’s walking up front, cautiously walks along the path and looks around.

Jo: „Stop! Hold on.“ Matze: „Down!“ Uli: „We’re not allowed in here!“

Narrator (audiobook): Martina, Jo, Matze and Uli have fled to a hidden clearing at the edge of town, scattered with gorgeous fruit trees. An antiquated looking train wagon is standing in the middle of it, surrounded by a small well, a weathered table and chairs.

Matze: „Guys, come here, look where we are!“ Uli: „There’s probably someone living here.“ Matz: „Who cares! Look how cool it is here.“ Martina: „Nice. But shouldn’t we go get my suitcase now?“ Jo: „Guys. This here is just ours now! Finally something without the Externs! We can do anything here; chill, hang out, party- How cool!!“

(Note: this is Martina's face at what Jo says.)

[queers-at-the-theatre]

Cabaret in Düsseldorf: Ein Conférencier für unsere Zeit

„Berlin meant boys.“ 

Das schrieb Christopher Isherwood 1976 in Christopher and His Kind, seinem unverblümten Bericht über die Berliner Jahre, der lange nach den Berlin Stories erschien. Männer waren die ultimative Verlockung, die ihn 1929 von England nach Berlin zog, in eine Metropole, die - ungeachtet des geltenden § 175 - queeren Menschen oftmals ungewohnte Freiheiten bot. Dies ist der Hintergrund von Isherwoods Erlebnissen im Berlin der frühen 1930er Jahre (wenngleich manche Inszenierungen von Cabaret und vor allem der Film von 1972 den Schwerpunkt auf die heterosexuelle Beziehung zwischen Sally Bowles und Clifford Bradshaw verschieben). 

In André Kaczmarczyks neuer Inszenierung am Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus schimmern Isherwoods Erlebnisse hingegen nicht nur durch, sie sind ihr Wesenskern. 

Wir erleben eine queere Welt und ihren Untergang, ein Thema, das sich in sämtlichen Facetten der Inszenierung spiegelt: Bühnenbild, Kostüme, Eingriffe in den Text, Auswahl und Gestaltung der Songs. 

Vor allem aber spiegelt es sich in der Figur des von Kaczmarczyk gespielten Conférenciers, die hier alle clownesken Züge verliert. Sein Conférencier ist zunächst lasziv, ironisch, boshaft, ein Mephisto, der Szenen beobachtet und spöttisch kommentiert. 

Einmal präsentiert er sich als Polizist, der ein Girl aus dem Kit-Kat-Klub als in AfD-Blau gewandeten Sänger auftreten lässt, nur um den Gänsehaut-Moment danach ins Lächerliche zu ziehen, als im Hintergrund ein gut gebauter Adonis in Heldenpose erscheint. Dieser erinnert aber wiederum an Leni Riefenstahls faschistische Ästhetik und verweist damit auf die kommende braune Zukunft. Hier hat alles einen doppelten Boden. 

Doch damit gibt sich Kaczmarczyk nicht zufrieden. Er schenkt seinem Conférencier eine Entwicklung, die in der Figur nicht zwingend angelegt ist. Im zweiten Teil der Inszenierung dringt die rechte Bedrohung in sein ureigenstes Refugium, den Kit-Kat-Klub, ein. Die Rechten werden nicht mehr lächerlich gemacht, sie sitzen mit lässig übergeschlagenen Beinen auf der Bühne oder wachen in ledernen Uniformen über alles, was im Klub geschieht. 

Das durchaus schwierig zu inszenierende Lied „Säht ihr sie mit meinen Augen“ wird hier zu einer Hommage an queere Menschen, an die Schönheit der Vielfalt und des Andersseins. Zugleich schlägt der Conférencier mit seinem geänderten Schlusssatz „Säht ihr sie mit meinen Augen, dann säht ihr, sie alle sind schön“ einen Bogen zum Anfang, an dem er - hier noch ironisch und wild - die Schönheit aller beschwört, die zum Kit-Kat-Klub gehören, bis hin zum Orchester.

Doch in der Szene steckt noch mehr. Der Conférencier wird hier zu einer Beschützerfigur, indem er die Boys und Girls des Klubs behutsam anleitet, damit sie dem Nazi Ernst Ludwig gefallen, ihnen die Würde lässt und dennoch zu zeigen versucht, wie sie sich den geänderten Umständen anpassen können. Der Klub war bis dahin ein geschützter Raum, eine Art selbst gewählte Familie, und diese ist nun in ihrem Inneren bedroht. Als der Conférencier die Rechten provoziert, indem er für die Schönheit aller plädiert und die lächerliche Gorilla-Maske zu Boden schleudert, gefolgt von einem herausfordernden „Was?“, wird er zusammengeschlagen. 

Am Ende trägt er zum goldenen Frack, unter dem als letzte Reminiszenz an alte zügellose Zeiten die spitzenbekleidete Brust hervorschimmert, eine Hose, deren Reiterlook schon auf Wehrmacht und SS verweist. Er lebt von jetzt an in einem Spannungsfeld von Selbstbehauptung und Anpassung. Und es bleibt fraglich, wie viel von seiner queeren Identität und der des Klubs er in die neue Zeit hinüberretten kann.  (Fabian)

[mykey-and-bobby-koopa]

((And finally, here are the three remaining Koopas that also belong to the Koopa family. They are...

//

Y para finalizar, aquí están los tres Koopas restantes que tambien pertenecen a la familia Koopa. Ellos son...))

BOWSER

Kamek, my faithful right hand and mentor. He has accompanied me throughout my life in the castle. He is usually very organized and knows a lot of things. His specialty is magic. He helps my children with his own magic. He is always there when he is needed.

//

Kamek, mi fiel mano derecha y mentor. Me ha acompañado durante toda mi vida en el castillo. Suele ser muy organizado y sabe muchas cosas. Su especialidad es la magia. Él ayuda a mis niños con su propia magia. Siempre está ahí cuando se le necesita.

____________

LARRY / JR.

Bobby is our best friend. We love spending time with him, even though we argue with each other. He likes reading and fairy tales. Many times, when we are in a bad mood, he encourages us and plays with us.

//

Bobby es nuestro mejor amigo. Nos encanta pasar tiempo con él, aunque discutamos entre nosotros. Le gusta la lectura y los cuentos de hadas. Muchas veces, cuando estamos de malas, él nos da ánimos y juega con nosotros

____________

LUDWIG

Mykey is... a great guy, I must say. He's friendly and everyone here likes him...... I don't really know him that much but... oh what the hell! He is a great friend and a great big brother. I have to admit his sunglasses make him look great and when he puts them on he is kind of scary. I always see him smile, I guess it's the best quality of him. I look forward to meeting him more in the future.

//

Mykey es... un gran chico, debo decir. Es amigable y le agrada a todos aquí...... realmente no lo conozco mucho pero... oh, qué demonios! Él es un gran amigo y un gran hermano mayor. Debo admitir que sus lentes lo hacen ver genial y cuando se los pone da algo de miedo. Siempre lo veo sonreír, supongo que es su mejor cualidad. Espero poder conocerlo más en el futuro.

[tharizdun-03]

Oppenheimer Review

First of all, I think Oppenheimer is a technical masterpiece. An audiovisual marvel. It's Nolan's best work in that regard, a completely new level for him, and an incredible achievement. Editing-wise, it's remarkable too. People have said that the writing can be over-written and that it struggled to breathe. There are a lot of time jumps, and I didn't follow everything in detail, but it never struggled to hold my attention personally. I think that as long as you follow along overall, it doesn't really matter.

I love the little flashes of sparks and stuff here and there, and the consistent clapping and stomping. It adds to that feeling of inevitability, knowing what's coming and building up to it. Ludwig Göransson's score for this is absolutely fearsome to an insane degree. It's one of the best aspects of this film, and it wraps you in its blanket of existential dread from the very first scene and never lets go. And as much as this feels like it was the film Nolan was perhaps born to made, Cillian Murphy equally gave the performance of a lifetime. I think to those worried that this was going to be US imperalist propaganda, let me tell you that it is certainly not. There are some criticisms I have up ahead, but especially for an American film, they portrayed the communist characters very sympathetically, and was very clear about how dropping those bombs against a country who was going to surrender anyway was anything but a just act. In fact, this might be one of the most overtly anti-nuclear weapons movie made since the first Cold War.

In fact, talking about its politics for a bit. I wouldn't say it is leftist, but the movie is very sympathetic to leftism and incredibly damning of the red scare. Almost from the get go, Oppenheimer has to hide any sort of left wing beliefs that he has or any ties to the communist party. Oppenheimer actually takes time to show him organizing, unionizing his campus, discussing theory with commie comrades, funding the spanish civil war and helping refugees escape. They even frame the whole Los Alamos project like it's a sort of pseudo commune where everyone (yes, even women) gets to contribute to the little society they're resided in. That's very sympathetic to leftist perspectives for a mainstream movie. I think the movie almost goes so far as to portray most communists as empathetic and kind, whereas the anticommunists tend to be petty and vindictive (the scene where the guy decides not to bomb Kyoto because he had his honeymoon there). I'd also say that the movie is very much about the folly of centrism and apolitical science, and I think that even though the movie isn't explicitly saying "yay communism", I think Oppenheimer himself is consistently portrayed, in the final act especially, as never really having been a true communist and how that's a bad thing. I think Jean calls it from the beginning in the scene about reading das kapital, and he just refuses to take any stance on anything. Which, of course, is a consistent character trait of his that leads to his future actions. In fact, let's talk about that. The man himself.

I do think Oppenheimer is less of a character study, and more of an idea study. I think if you're looking to really get into Oppenheimer's head, it only foes so far. But if you see it as a general encapsulation of the events, rather than the person, and the ideas behind those, it succeeds. I think that disconnect prevents emotional investment of the personal kind, but I don't think it's that kind of movie. It calls for emotional investment of the existential kind. And I think, in a way, perhaps it's good. Perhaps it's good that we didn't get too deep into Oppenheimer's head or tried to make him too sympathetic. It's not a story about Oppenheimer. It's a story about the atomic bomb, and they only tell it through Oppenheimer. He is the vehicle, not the subject. It explores ideas, less so than people.

"You can’t commit the sin and then have us all feeling bad for you because it had consequences"

That is the moral center of the film.

Oppenheimer ego and cowardice is estabilished from the get-go and everything else follows. He can't commit politically or romantically. All theory, no practice. The communists saw him as a traitor (kitty pretty much explicitly said the issue was that he never saw a communist, and he suffered repercussions cause he detached from his political beliefs, not considering the moral implications of his practicing science). Right-wing government officials saw him as spineless and weak. The characters even say "nobody knows what you think." I think it was exceedingly interesting how he quickly abandon hid interest in communism and anti-imperialism (when matt damon's character confronts him) and how it is that lack of integrity that leads him to committing what he does.

Throughout the film there's a constant undercurring criticism of Oppenheimer's indecisiveness. How at every opportunity he could have done the right thing, and the consequences of not doing so. He tries to poison his professor. He allows his colleague to work on the hydrogen bomb. He never apologizes for the bombings, and yet the guilt eats away at him only after he's made the bomb. And even then he denies it. He compartmentalizes it away. You're not supposed to feel for him. His guilt was paper-thin, wanting to present himself as a martyr. He's a coward and a narcissist.

I think that what prevents personal emotional investment is that we rarely actually got a look into his head. It's a lot of you have to pick up what the movie thinks about him, but we don't see things from his perspective, like from being really embedded in how he sees everything. And again, I think it's good cause it's not about his struggle, but about how he played a part in the larger story. We don't want to identify with him too strongly. But sometimes it makes it so that the film can't properly look at everything. Not just in that we don't get to know Oppenheimer's specific self-conflicted thoughts but instead they keep it vague.

But I also do think it erases Japanese and Native American voices regarding nuclear testing and detonations. In fact, pacific islanders were also severely impacted by nuclear testing under the Pacific Proving Grounds. At least 318 bombs were dropped on ancestral homes and people. The movie does, of course, say that the bombings (overall) were bad. We all know that. But I think it's terribly reductive when to this criticism people just say "uuh, did you just want to see japanese people get burnt to crisps lmaoo". Like, no. But I do think Nolan only symbolically annihilating literally everyone victimized by the production and subsequent bombings is an inherent pitfall by taking this approach. We don't see the Hispanic and indigenous people whose land was stolen and poisoned to build the bomb. We don't see a single face from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

And I do think that was a bad call. In fact, I think natives tried reaching out to Nolan to at least be acknowledged in the film. Which, if true, isn't a good look. Obviously, him seeing the atomic bomb basically wherever he looks and the skin rotting off of people infront of him, I recognize. That's not what I'm talking aboutl But there is a scene where he can't even look at photographs of victims of the bomb, and by proxy, neither can the film. It limits itself only to Oppenheimer's guilt while never giving the actual victims any voice whatsoever. And I think this is important to bring light to. 

I also think that we didn't really dig into what must've been extreme inner turmoil for a Jewish man to build a weapon he thinks will end the war, but then the movie doesn't actually explore it. Not that it should be the main conflict, but it's as if they didn't even tie him being Jewish to wanting to defeat the Nazis and that feels like a stronger connection they should've made, right?

Also, the women in this movie don't really get much to do. Florence's character mostly had sex and then died, which is a shame, cause there was some sort of sadness there that could've been something but we never looked at it. Even Emily Blunt's scenes, which she act out very well, lack proper build-up.

P.S. I think if you avoid Oppenheimer because you're a leftist yet flock to Barbie, the most corporatized depiction of feminism ever where capitalism can't be addressed and the patriarchy is reduced to anti gender equality (completely dismissing intersectionality), then you need to work on stop identifying so much with your pre-concieved biases so that it doesn't affect your media literacy. Representation is not glorification. (last time i'll talk about barbie, sorry. i just see a lot of dumb oppenheimer takes when there are legitimate criticisms you can focus on instead)

Overall, it's a great film tho. Technically, it's Nolan's magnum opus. I think the movie not being much angrier and giving a slice to the people actually victimized instead of being utterly disinterested in such, or not allowing us to actually get into Oppenheimer's head (nolan very much picked the middle road, not committing to either. ironically, like oppenheimer himself often did lol), prevents it from being an all time great classic for me. It would've needed a bit more bite. 

But I'm very impressed by Nolan's damning of imperialism's hunger for unnecessary war and destruction, the red scare mass hysteria, the consistent persecution of communists, and how how anything remotely left wing is seen as anti-american which cruelly exposes how being "american" is identifying with the lust and acceptance of the empires' war crimes.