#solraneth

[lenskij]

🔥 opera *eyes emoji*

I do have some unpopular opinions... Everyone, please don't get mad at me and be aware that this is just *vine voice* mY opINION and it's perfectly okay to disagree <3

In no particular order:

• Puccini is overrated

• Russian operas are the best operas by far <3

• Opera singers don't need to act. As long as the emotions are projected through their voice, I don't care what their faces are doing (it's not like you can see it from the balcony seats anyway, it's the close-up TV streams that puts too much emphasis on facial expression)

• Modernisations are great, but don't mordernise stagings just for modernisation's sake, it needs to make sense for the story. Anachronisms are okay, too, don't get weird trying to get rid of them!

• Netrebko's singing isn't as terrible as everyone says, actually. (Her opinions are stupid, though)

That should be enough for now :)

[octavianacidicbreastmilk]

The three things I associate with you are analysis of The Lion in Winter through a [redacted] lens, stock photo memes and Ridley Scott (it said three things so I couldn’t have included both movies dkdjdkdjd)

Honorary mention to excellent literature recs🥺💙

LMFAO fhdhdhd okay this is so spot on. i remember when me and caro had to go through the redacted lense in italian as to not get in trouble, absolutely deranged posting. glad my stock photo memes are living on in the collective memory ✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻 we should def bring them back they were SO fun. also THANK YOU for confirming that i should send ridley scott a paypal invoice to get some coin 💙💙🙏🏻🙏🏻

[thesparrow1996]

hiiii, hope i’m not too late, happy birthday!❤️

not too late! thanks friend :)

[sailorsally]

Ma man Thomas for the ask!

Yeeeeee!!!! Lets talk sunshine man <3

do I like them: you very well know of my feelings for this tall golden retriever but for those who don’t : I  A D O R E Thomas 

5 good qualities:  optimistic, driven, open-minded, loving, makes the bible sound sexy

3 bad qualities: horny on main; no self preservation instinct; makes the bible sound sexy ; bit of colonialist savior complex

favourite episode/etc: this is hard but I’m gonna go with 4x10 for OBVIOUS REASONS

otp: FlintHamilton

brotp: hmmmmmmmmmm canonical: Miranda/Thomas; in my head: Madi/Thomas

ot3: o boi... FlintHamiltons and SilverFlintHam both because I can’t choose

notp: Thomas :) and :) Peter :) bloody:) Ashe:))

best quote: “We are fighting a war in the service of the son of god and it is treason to offer forgiveness to any man who would seek it?”

head canon: enjoys cooking, can’t carry a tune to save his life, is a good painter, athletic but not really into sports, asked Miranda to marry him thrice before she agreed, is known to enjoy a good long make out session with certain John Silver while the both of them listen to James read

Thank you for this ask ,Sofia, thinking about this soft revolutionary relieved all stress & anxiety I had <3 ✨ give me a character and i'll answer ✨

[simone-boccanegra]

5, 9, 12?👀

5. a composer you have tried and failed to like: I really don’t care for Leoncavallo.

9.  a casting/singer’s voice you’ll defend to the death. (now tell us why): Hampson is not a Verdi baritone, but his Rodrigo??? Perfection. He really gets it.

12.  an opera that made you have an ~*awakening*~ of sorts (any sort): Trovatore was my first opera and I instantly went: FUCK YEAH THIS IS MY THING

[ilackallhonour]

13 and 46 for the spotify ask?

Amazon Love by NO WAYYYY~~ Johnny Flynn and Cler Achel by Tinariwen (yeahhh check those guys out they’re very good)

[erlkoenige]

Not to repeat myself AGAIN but Caro kept reblogging your Elias posts and I remember being mad because they were excellent but I never saw them in the main tag ksbxhsjdkk and yeah then you followed me and I followed back💕💕

SDFLDSFJLDFJLDFJ caro making us notice each other’s blogs through reblogs of elias content is something that can actually be so personal, anyways i’m very glad you followed back <33

[hotniatheron]

Me scrolling through tumblr and liking all your Elias posts: GOD she gets me

tired: he’s bad :( bad man :(((( bad man no 

wired: he is a horrid little man who is going to die choking on his own fetid blood and he’s still going to win because how can you not when your death means there’s a new prince of a ruined world, even if jon does become the eye to close the eye HE’S STILL GOING TO DESTROY HIM sexy. love a good villain

[ceraunos]

12, 32, 33 for the handwriting asks!💙

hey dear! thanks for the ask xx

the first 5 words that come to your mind, favourite season, & favourite ice cream flavour

[lenskij]

Oh also!!! 🔥 Onegin the character

There are multiple ways to interpret Onegin and they’re correct as long as they’re consistent within each piece (and, in case of the opera, also consistent with the music).

For example, Kwiecień’s Onegin in Cherniakov’s production (Paris 2008) is different from his Onegin in Warner’s (Met 2013), but for each separate production, they’re correct. Meanwhile Onegin in the movie (1999, with Ralph Fiennes) is completely different from the opera Eugene and the one in the Eifman Ballet is maybe the BEST Onegin but it wouldn’t have worked with the opera score.

In the opera though, Onegin isn’t cruel, because cruelty requires malice, and he isn’t malicious!! He’s cynical! It’s not the same thing as being malicious (because malice requires intent) - his actions hurt the other characters but not intentionally!! He might be heartless not because he’s mean, but because he lacks the empathy to understand Tatiana and Lensky’s feelings!

Also!! Onegin could have been nicer about it, BUT it was the right thing to do to reject Tatiana! They’d be miserable if they ended up together!

[octavianacidicbreastmilk]

Hiiii Sofia beloved I’m dropping into your inbox to ask - I know you like miss Valente’s work and since I really enjoyed Deathless I was wondering if there’s anything else by her you’d recommend?👀👀

Sof 🥺💞!!!! so, since im still not done with the deep dive i thought i might do a two-parter. essentially the books ive read and ejoyed and the ones im keeping an eye out for in the tbr to give a look over if the concept might appeal to you. onto the books now fhdhd

RECS

RADIANCE: this one i LOVED bc of the setting. short summary: humanity has colonised the solar system, and theres a thriving silent film industry on the moon. the daugther of a very famous gothic filmaker decides to film a documentary on a colony that disappeared on venus, before disappearing herself. the setting is just so imaginative and i did enjoy a lot the experimental style of it, tho a fair warning abt it is necessary (the story is also told through film transcripts and letters and etc)!!! like it just deals, again, with stories in a very satisfying way and with so many layers to it

THE FUTURE IS BLUE: i do think this is more of theee best sampler to find out if valente herself might work as a writer for you in multiple books. its a collection of short stories ranging from various different topics (dystopic, lovecraftian etc) but with her distinctive style. my fave is the lily and the horn as an exploration of a world where poison is a more important weapon than swords or else, and all conflicts are resolved thus at the dinner table. its difficult to rec it without going into depth to all the short stories, but I do think its the best sampler to see if going further deathless might be fun!

(this one is optional so to speak, THE FAIRYLAND SERIES: its a fairytale series and ive read it when i was much younger, but I do think if youre looking for a fun read it can qualify. in tone it resembles a lot masha as a kid from the first few chapters of deathless. its the same young, and witty, and unconventional girl discovers magic. it does deal with the grief of growing up and, metaphorically, growing a heart in a sort of coming of age story. also the sidecharacters are SO great. i would say, as an optional rec, its smth if youre in the mood for fairytales or smth of that range and youre very into valentes writing style!)

IN THE NIGHT GARDEN: the books works very similarly in structure to the arabian nights, with a girl who tells stories to a prince. so it similarly is abt a number of tales but each of them also pertains to the story of the young girl herself, kind of like a matrioska, and a lot of the fun is to keep track of those multiple weaved and apparently disconnected tales to reach THE conclusion

TBR

SPACE OPERA: its eurovision in space with aliens. enough said ghdhdhd

LABYRINTH

THE BREAD WE EAT IN DREAMS; another collection of short stories, similar to the future is blue

[artificialqueens]

I love the new header and avatar!

Thank you honey!! You can credit the brilliant @the-pink-one-so-terrify for that!! 💖💖💖

[sailorsally]

Jared for the ask👀

Sorry I don’t watch Supernatural lmao

boy, this is gonna be a LONG list. I’ll also try and sort ‘em by how much I like ‘em

Mr Nobody

Alexander

Fight Club

Dallas Buyer’s Club

Blade Runner 2049

Artifact

Requiem for a Dream

My So Called Life

Lord Of War

Chapter 27

How to make an American Quilt

The Outsider

Lonely Hearts

Suicide Squad (idk if this even counts because I legit fell asleep halfway through the film when I watched it at the cinema)

Idk how ‘accurate’ the rating of these are because it’s a mish mash of how good the whole film was & how good Jared’s performances were.  I kinda feel like I shouldn’t be placing Requiem for a Dream so low but a) I haven’t seen it in 10 years b) I have only seen it once c) it was a very hard film to watch and even though Jared’s performance was gr8, it’s not particularly something I’d consider watching often... Alexander/Mr Nobody are a tie actually... Alexander definitely is a masterpiece imo but so is Mr Nobody and BOTH of these films are still underappreciated imo... Mr Nobody is a film I rewatch very often because I find the concept of it mindboggling to this day & feel like it’s a good film to watch whenever you have doubts about life and feel stuck Dallas Buyers Club has a special place in my heart because when we were shooting my friends’ short, running on literally NO budget and just enthusiasm, I came across an article that said they shot the whole film without proper cinema lighting and mostly used natural light... and seeing how we were so broke and absolutely terrifying making our first film, that “anecdote” gave us a lot of hope and courage for our own production. Blade Runner 2049 is just absolutely stunning. Saw it in cinema & still think about the cinematography every so often. Roger Deakins is a wizard.  Don’t even get me started about the LAYERS in Fight Club!!! I think I better shut up now, because I can talk about  Jared cinema endlessly Thanks for enabling a gal, Sofia <3

leave an actor/actress in my ask and I tell you all of their movies I saw

[simone-boccanegra]

Lime green and ice blue for the writeblr asks!

Lime Green: Your favourite kind of scene to write - dramatic death scenes

Ice Blue: Ship trope you think is overused in writing - I don’t care for any stock romantic comedy tropes

[bigolegay]

Since everything's a little weird right now & most seem to be bored I thought we could play a quarantine game 💘 answer the following! 1. how has your day been? 2. what is the last thing that made you smile? 3. what's keeping you entertained these days? 4. if you are in some kind of quarantine/self isolation: is there anything you'd like to achieve in this time? 5. post a selfie! (if you're comfortable with that) 6. last but not least: send this to some mutuals to keep the game going💙

1. My day has been a mixed bag. I finally managed a good amount of sleep but waking up was uncomfortable. I’ve been generally feeling rather okay, but I’m getting worse in the evening 😞 I have managed to watch a film I wanted to, though, and I baked a cake! 🎂2. My dad called (which is rare!) and was generally supportive!! Honestly I’ve probably smiled since then too but my face often acts without me noticing it. ☎️

3. My obsession with The Untamed/Mo Dao Zu Shi is currently running its course. 🐇 💗 🐇 I have finished the drama and I can’t really watch animated series for some reason, so now I’m trying to wrangle my ADHD into letting me read the translated novel. I’m also doing my homework from my therapist, which takes up a lot of time!

4. Honestly I’m trying not to put any onus on myself to get anything done. Right now, recovery is the goal! 🤲 I’m in self isolation under a lockdown and I have mild symptoms of the virus. If my Gov were maybe less fuck-headed I’d be in quarantine, but I can’t get a test unless I’m at death’s door so uhhhh… 🧟‍♂️ 

5. So happy I actually got dressed today, even tho this is only from the shoulders up!

[zutaralesbian]

Azula and/or Robin Buckley

Azula:

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

The greatest fictional villain ever written? Yes I think so. Azula is so damn interesting and complex as a character. And fun.

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

She's a child

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

I know it seems obvious to put her in Slytherin but that is the house that fits her best imo lol. She's ambitious, cunning, and will go to any lengths to achieve her goals. And while she is a very powerful bender and good physical fighter as well, she uses her manipulation skills quite a lot as well. (See: the conquer of Ba Sing Se). Unlike Zuko (who is a Gryffindor) she usually thinks before she acts and isn't impulsive.

best quality: Her intelligence. Azula is damn smart. And it's another thing that makes her so dangerous.

worst quality: The way she treats other people. She really has no healthy relationships throughout the show :/

ship them with: I kind of like her with Ty Lee but mostly in an AU sense. Or in a world after Azula is redeemed. Either way I headcanon her as a lesbian and choose to believe she'll get a girlfriend once she's healthy and ready for one.

brotp them with: As I said before, she really has no healthy canon relationships. But I love her complicated and tragic sibling relationship with Zuko. It makes me cry. I also love the Azula/Mai/Ty lee trio, even though it was actually a mess.

needs to stay away from: Ozai

misc. thoughts: Azula is another character that makes me sad lol. Unlike some fans, I think her arc and downfall was really well written and actually made complete sense. But I still wish we could have seen at least the beginning of a redemption arc for her. At the same time though, she did make an amazing and badass villain.

Robin Buckley:

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life 

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

She's cute!

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

My opinion of this might change if we learn more about her in S4. But she seems like the academic type. She's full of knowledge and seems like the type of person that took school kind of seriously. And I got the impression that she values knowledge a lot.

best quality: Her sarcasm. I loled at the times she dragged Steve lol

worst quality: I don't think there's anything I dislike about Robin.

ship them with: No big OTP but I like the stuff the fandom makes for Robin/Nancy and Robin/Kali. I hope she gets a girlfriend at some point since she's the first canon and confirmed LGBT character on Stranger Things. But tbh I won't hold my breath lol. (I do 100% believe Will is gay but at the same time, it hasn't been solidly confirmed the way Robin was. Don't come at me fandom.)

brotp them with: STEVE ofc. I would die for them.

needs to stay away from: NA

misc. thoughts: I know a lot of people hated S3 but there were a lot of things that I actually enjoyed about it lol. One of which was the straightbaiting they did with Steve and Robin. (Though we now know that it was mostly Maya Hawke's idea, not the writers' lmao). Robin coming out to Steve is genuinely ond of my favorite TV moments.

Thanks! :)