#wicked audios

[operachristine]

Massive Audio Gifting!

Anastasia:

Second National Tour

May 14, 2022 - Operachristinedaae

Matinée

Kyla Stone (Anya), Sam McLellan (Dmitry), Bryan Seastrom (Vlad), Brandon Delgado (Gleb), Madeline Raube (Countess Lily), Gerri Weagraff (Dowager Empress), Taya Diggs (Little Anastasia/Alexei), Mikayla Agrella (Tsarina Alexandra), Christian McQueen (Tsar Nicholas ii/Count Ipolitov/Count Gregory), Taylor Stanger (Prince Siegfried), Veronica Rae Jiao (u/s Odette), Dakota Hoar (Von Rothbart), Lauren Teyke (Olga Romanov), Lizzy Marie Legregin (s/w Tatiana Romanov/Dunya), Victoria Madden (Maria Romanov/Marfa), Veronica Rae Jiao (Young Anastasia/Paulina), Harrison Drake (Grolinsky/Count Leopold), Sarah Statler (Countess Gregory), Louis Brogna (Sergei), William Aaron Bishop, Evin Johnson

Link

Second US National Tour

November 4, 2022 - Operachristinedaae

Veronica Stern (Anya), Willem Butler (Dmitry), Bryan Seastrom (Vlad), Ben Edquist (Gleb), Gerri Weagraff (Dowager Empress), Madeline Raube (Countess Lily), Alexandrya Salazar (Little Anastasia/Alexei Romanov), Kaitlyn Jackson (Tsarina Alexandra), Amin Fuson (Tsar Nicholas ii), Brooklyn Liabo (Young Anastasia), Victoria Madden (Maria Romanov), Gabriella Burke (Olga Romanov/Odette), Thalia Atallah (Tatiana Romanov), Zachary Bigelow, Willam Aaron Bishop, Louis Brogna, Billy McGavin, Luke Rands, Lathan Roberts, Sarah Statler

Link

Second National Tour

November 5, 2022 - Operachristinedaae

Matinée

Veronica Stern (Anya), Willem Butler (Dmitry), Bryan Seastrom (Vlad), Ben Edquist (Gleb), Gerri Weagraff (Dowager Empress), Alexandrya Salazar (Little Anastasia/Alexei Romanov), Rebecca Hartman (u/s Tsarina Alexandra), Amin Fuson (Tsar Nicholas ii), Brooklyn Liabo (Young Anastasia/Paulina), Victoria Madden (Maria Romanov/Marfa), Gabriella Burke (Olga Romanov/Odette), Thalia Atallah (Tatiana Romanov/Dunya), Kaitlyn Jackson (u/s Countess Lily), Alec Llyod (u/s Prince Siegfried), Zachary Bigelow, Willam Aaron Bishop, Louis Brogna, Billy McGavin, Luke Rands, Sarah Statler

Link

Second National Tour

November 5, 2022 - Operachristinedaae

Rebecca Hartman (u/s Anya), Willem Butler (Dmitry), Bryan Seastrom (Vlad), Ben Edquist (Gleb), Gerri Weagraff (Dowager Empress), Kaitlyn Jackson (u/s Countess Lily), Leela Chopra (Little Anastasia/Alexei Romanov), Amy Smith (u/s Tsarina Alexandra), Amin Fuson (Tsar Nicholas ii), Brooklyn Liabo (Young Anastasia), Victoria Madden (Maria Romanov), Gabriella Burke (Olga Romanov/Odette), Thalia Atallah (Tatiana Romanov), Alec Lloyd (u/s Prince Siegfried), Zachary Bigelow, Louis Brogna, Billy McGavin, Luke Rands, Sarah Statler, Dominic Pagliaro (s/w)

(Rebecca’s Anya Debut & Dominic’s swing Debut)

Link

Second National Tour

December 10, 2022 - Operachristinedaae

Veronica Stern (Anya), Willem Butler (Dmitry), Bryan Seastrom (Vlad), Ben Edquist (Gleb), Gerri Weagraff (Dowager Empress), Madeline Raube (Countess Lily), Leela Chopra (Little Anastasia/Alexei Romanov), Kaitlyn Jackson (Tsarina Alexandra), Dominic Pagliaro (u/s Tsar Nicholas II/Count Ipolitov/Count Gregory), Brooklyn Liabo (Young Anastasia/Paulina), Victoria Madden (Maria Romanov/Marfa), Gabriella Burke (Olga Romanov/Odette), Thalia Atallah (Tatiana Romanov/Dunya), Zachary Bigelow (Suitor/Soldier), Willam Aaron Bishop (Romanov Servant/Train Smoker), Louis Brogna (Suitor/Sergei), Billy McGavin (Count Leopold), Luke Rands (Suitor/Von Rothbart), Lathan Roberts (Suitor/Prince Siegfried), Sarah Statler (Romanov Servant/Countess Gregory)

Link

Second National Tour

December 11, 2022 - Operachristinedaae

Veronica Stern (Anya), Willem Butler (Dmitry), Bryan Seastrom (Vlad), Ben Edquist (Gleb), Gerri Weargaff (Dowager Empress), Madeline Raube (Countess Lily), Leela Chopra (Little Anastasia/Alexei Romanov), Kaitlyn Jackson (Tsarina Alexandra), Dominic Pagliro (u/s Tsar Nicholas ii/Count Ipolitov/Count Gregory), Brooklyn Liabo (Young Anastasia/Paulina), Victoria Madden (Maria Romanov/Marfa), Gabriella Burke (Olga Romanov/Odette), Thalia Atallah (Tatiana Romanov/Dunya), Zachary Bigelow (Suitor/Soldier), Willam Aaron Bishop (Romanov Servant/train smoker), Louis Brogna (Suitor/Sergei), Billy McGavin (Count Leopold), Alec Lloyd (u/s Suitor/Von Rothbart), Lathan Roberts (Suitor/Prince Siegfried), Sarah Statler (Romanov Servant/Countess Gregory)

(Ben’s last show - Released by Operachristinedaae)

Link

Annie:

Third National Tour

January 28, 2023 - Operachristinedaae

Ellie Pulsifer (Annie), Christopher Swan (Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks), Stefanie Londino (Miss Hannigan), Julia Nicole Hunter (Grace Farrell), Andrew Scoggin (u/s Rooster Hannigan), Krista Curry (Lily St. Regis), Mark Woodard (F.D.R), Addison (Sandy), Riglee Ruth Bryson (Pepper), Bronte Harrison (Molly), Vivanne Neely (July), Izzy Pike (Kate), Kenzie Rees (Duffy), Valeria Velasco (Tessie), Bradley Ford Betos (Lt. Ward/Fred McCracken/Ickes/Brandeis), Harrison Drake (Drake), Laura Elizabeth Flanagan (Annette/Bonnie Boylan), Jataria Heyward (Mrs. Greer/Star To Be/Ronnie Boylan), Kevin Ivey Morrison (Apple Seller/Jimmy Johnson/Hull), Leanna Rubin (Sophie the Kettle/Mrs. Pugh/Perkins), Kaley Were (Cecile/Connie Boylan), Andrew Scoggin (Bundles McCloskey/Bert Healy/Howe), Mark Woodard (Dog Catcher), Aidan Ziegler-Hansen (s/w Asst. Dog Catcher/Sound Effects Man/Morganthau)

Link

Third National Tour

January 29, 2023 - Operachristinedaae

Matinée

Ellie Pulsifer (Annie), Christopher Swan (Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks), Stefanie Londino (Miss Hannigan), Julia Nicole Hunter (Grace Farrell), Andrew Scoggin (u/s Rooster Hannigan), Krista Curry (Lily St. Regis), Mark Woodard (F.D.R), Addison (Sandy), Riglee Ruth Bryson (Pepper), Bronte Harrison (Molly), Vivanne Neely (July), Izzy Pike (Kate), Kenzie Rees (Duffy), Valeria Velasco (Tessie), Bradley Ford Betos (Lt. Ward/Fred McCracken/Ickes/Brandeis), Harrison Drake (Drake), Laura Elizabeth Flanagan (Annette/Bonnie Boylan), Jataria Heyward (Mrs. Greer/Star To Be/Ronnie Boylan), Kevin Ivey Morrison (Apple Seller/Jimmy Johnson/Hull), Leanna Rubin (Sophie the Kettle/Mrs. Pugh/Perkins), Kaley Were (Cecile/Connie Boylan), Andrew Scoggin (Bundles McCloskey/Bert Healy/Howe), Mark Woodard (Dog Catcher), Aidan Ziegler-Hansen (s/w Asst. Dog Catcher/Sound Effects Man/Morganthau)

Link

My Fair Lady:

Sixth National Tour

May 6, 2023 - Operachristinedaae

Matinée

Madeline Powell (Eliza Doolittle), Jonathan Grunert (Henry Higgins), John Adkison (Colonel Pickering), Michael Hegarty (Alfred P. Doolittle), Nathan Haltiwanger (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Becky Saunders (Mrs. Higgins), Madeline Brennan (Mrs. Pearce), Daniel James Canaday (Professor Zoltan Karpathy), Diana Craig (Queen of Transylvania), Torinae (Mrs. Eynsford-Hill), Blair Beasley (Clara Eynsford-Hill), Maeghin Mueller (Mrs. Hopkins), Kelly Gleason (Higgins’ maid/Flower Girl/Ensemble), Anna Backer (Higgins’ maid/Ensemble), Nick Berke (s/w Frank/Ensemble), Timothy Scott Brausch (Mrs. Higgins’ servant/ensemble), William Warren Carver (Loverly Quartet/Constable/Prince of Transylvania), Richard Coleman (Loverly Quartet/Jamie/Ensemble), Allyson Gishi (Higgins’ maid/ensemble), Sam Griffin (Charles/swing Loverly quartet/Lord Boxington), Sami Murphy (Lady Boxington/Ensemble), Kevin D. O’Neil (Harry/Ensemble), Kal Kail (Constable/Ensemble), Jackson Hurt (Loverly Quartet/Ensemble)

Link

Six:

Second National Tour (Boleyn)

July 11, 2023 - Operachristinedaae

Gerianne Pérez (Catherine of Aragon), Aryn Bohannon (s/b Anne Boleyn), Amina Faye (Jane Seymour), Cecilia Snow (s/b Anna of Cleves), Aline Mayagoitia (Katherine Howard), Sydney Parra (Catherine Parr)

Link

Wicked:

Broadway

January 7, 2023 - Operachristinedaae

Alyssa Fox (s/b Elphaba), Brittney Johnson (Glinda), James D. Gish (Fiyero), Clevant Derricks (The Wizard), Michele Pawk (Madame Morrible), Mikayla Renfrow (Nessarose), Yando Lopez (u/s Boq), Clifton Davis (Doctor Dillamond), Dashi Mitchell (u/s Chistery), Kristina Doucette (Witch's Mother), Kevin Massey (u/s Witch's Father / Ozian Official), Alicia Albright (s/w Ensemble), Micaela Martinez (s/w Ensemble), Hunter Mikles (s/w Ensemble), Allsun O'Malley (s/w Ensemble), Jesse JP Johnson (s/w Ensemble)

(Released by Operachristinedaae)

Link

Second National Tour (Munchkinland)

September 11, 2021 - Operachristinedaae

Matinée

Talia Suskauer (Elphaba), Allison Bailey (Glinda), Jordan Litz (t/r Fiyero), Cleavant Derricks (The Wizard), Sharon Sachs (Madame Morrible), Amanda Fallon Smith (Nessarose), DJ Plunkett (Boq), Clifton Davis (Doctor Dillamond), Travante S Baker (Chistery), Megan Loomis (Midwife), Marina Lazzaretto (Witch's Mother), Wayne Schroder (Witch's Father / Ozian Official), Nick Burrage (Ensemble), Jordan Casanova (Ensemble), Matt Densky (Ensemble), Marie Eife (Ensemble), Ryan Patrick Farrell (Ensemble), Sara Gonzales (Ensemble), Hunter Mikles (Ensemble), Hayden Milanes (Ensemble), Jennafer Newberry (Ensemble), Alicia Newcom (Ensemble), Jackie Raye (Ensemble), Rebecca Gans Reavis (Ensemble), Andy Richardson (Ensemble), Anthony Sagaria (Ensemble), Justin Wirick (Ensemble)

Link

Second National Tour (Munchkinland)

October 14, 2021 - Operachristinedaae

Talia Suskauer (Elphaba), Allison Bailey (Glinda), Curt Hansen (Fiyero), Cleavant Derricks (The Wizard), Sharon Sachs (Madame Morrible), Jackie Raye (u/s Nessarose), DJ Plunkett (Boq), Clifton Davis (Doctor Dillamond), Megan Loomis (Midwife), Marina Lazzaretto (Witch's Mother), Nick Burrage (Ensemble), Jordan Casanova (Ensemble), Matt Densky (Ensemble), Marie Eife (Ensemble), Ryan Patrick Farrell (Ensemble), Jenny Florkowski (s/w Ensemble), Sara Gonzales (Ensemble), Jordan Litz (Ensemble), Hunter Mikles (Ensemble), Hayden Milanes (Ensemble), Jennafer Newberry (Ensemble), Alicia Newcom (Ensemble), Rebecca Gans Reavis (Ensemble), Andy Richardson (Ensemble), Anthony Sagaria (Ensemble), Justin Wirick (Ensemble)

(Jackie Raye's Post Pandemic Nessarose Debut!)

Link

Second National Tour (Munchkinland)

March 20, 2022 - Operachristinedaae

Talia Suskauer (Elphaba), Allison Bailey (Glinda), Jordan Litz (Fiyero), Cleavant Derricks (The Wizard), Lisa Howard (Madame Morrible), Amanda Fallon Smith (Nessarose), DJ Plunkett (Boq), David Scott Purdy (u/s Doctor Dillamond), Travante S Baker (Chistery), Megan Loomis (Midwife), Alexia Acebo (Witch's Mother), Wayne Schroder (Witch's Father / Ozian Official), Nick Burrage (Ensemble), Jordan Casanova (Ensemble), Matt Densky (Ensemble), Marie Eife (Ensemble), Ryan Patrick Farrell (Ensemble), Sara Gonzales (Ensemble), Chelsea Cree Groen (Ensemble), Ryan Mac (Ensemble), Alicia Newcom (Ensemble), Jackie Raye (Ensemble), Rebecca Gans Reavis (Ensemble), Andy Richardson (Ensemble), Paul Schwensen (Ensemble), Justin Wirick (Ensemble), Anthony Lee Bryant (s/w Ensemble), Ben Susak (s/w Ensemble)

(Final performance for Talia, Allison, Amanda, DJ, and Cleavant - Released by Operachristinedaae)

Link

[kristsune]

So while listening to Episode 6's case, I remembered that during the early premiere stream Jonny and Alex talked about Needles a bit. So I figured I'd put them together to make a nice little intro for Needles because I fell in love with him immediately.

[tys-kitty]

Kit: See how I try to forget about the boy I‘m in love with by fleeing the country and never talking to him ever again?

Kit: Very mindful

Kit: Very cutesy

Kit: Very ✨demure✨

[dearest-darlingest]

long-winded glinda gelphie angst thought ahead.

i just had a Thought™. a very sad glinda gelphie thought.

it's always been discussed how absolutely crushing the finale is; interpretations of glinda's grief driving her to do good, not by her own desire but because it was elphaba's last wish for her, amongst many implications in the finale that i love. however, it's always plagued me how it must be so painful and, to a point, numbing elphaba's absence post-defying gravity to glinda is.

it was never said in the musical how long they were apart (i have not read the book), but i rather think it must be a few years since glinda had to graduate ("we all went to uni together"). so, imagine how desperate she must've been in finding elphaba but not pursuing her search because she deemed it safer for the both of them (glinda with her status and elphaba's everything). how worried she felt in her day to day, wondering if her best friend's even safe, if she's already dead somewhere and no one was able find her body because nobody really knows where she is. all she's ever seen of her are the flashes of black flying through the sky, the sad reality of existing in a world with the one who she loves most but not being able to hold her, not even see her.

and then comes the reunion in the wizard's den.

she hears a commotion, she barges in concerned for whatever's going on in there, she sees elphaba. she sees elphaba. they crash onto each other in a tight hug. she's safe, she's here, she's alive. she holds onto her hand.

but then she realises that elphaba wasn't there to see her. not really. she waited and worried and waited even longer, but elphaba wasn't there for her.

what if she came to the conclusion that elphaba was there to apologise. to make amends with the wizard, so she can be with glinda again. what if glinda thought this was her second chance, a blessed one after she rejected elphaba's idea of flying with her during defying gravity.

she chooses fiyero.

now this is where the Thought™ really sprouted from—

she chooses fiyero and runs away and doesn't even say goodbye. and then the wretched senior citizen duo have the gall, the audacity to plan her beloved's demise right in front of her. but. after she's been brutally chosen over someone else, she bitterly says, "her sister. use her sister. spread a rumor, make her think her sister's in trouble. she will fly to her side and you'll have her."

it works. of course, it does. because that's her sister! her only living family left (though, she wasn't aware of that yet). but what if, glinda started to realise, after being left by elphaba again, that the plan wouldn't work if she were the one in trouble. what if glinda begun to think, how insignificant she must be in elphaba's life. to not be protected by her, to not have her fly over and fight whatever evil that has come to target glinda. to not be priotised by her.

to not even be a choice.

[notearsnora]

The audio quality difference between the movie clip versus the promo lyric clip is actually insane. In the movie clip you can actually hear that she sang this live on set and there’s no bad lipsync meanwhile the auto tune in the other one is unbearable at times because for some reason they’re insisting on removing all the background sound and the audio is put over her so you have moments where her lips don’t align with the words. Why?! I wanna hear the birds and her steps and when she jumps on the rocks, that’s what makes it special.

Same with popular, there is literally no reason to over edit Ariana Grande’s voice in any way. Not to mention the typo in the popular lyrics that Ariana had to correct in the comments… just embarrassing all around. I don’t know what’s going on in the Universal editing room for wicked but they either need a nap or a goodbye because this is crazy.

[thenobleprincex]

i know i am super late to the party, but does anyone know if there is any audio or video of jonathan bailey in the last 5 years? please please please 🥺🥺

[notebookmusical]

Lauren Samuels performing No Good Deed [November 23 2024, Matinee]

[kujousaramybeloved]

what is this feeling?

[robobee]

I love cage the elephant. know absolutely jack shit about the band. I have no idea if the singer is southern yeehaw or a california baby. cannot fucking tell. is it a band? one guy? idfk. refuse to even google them. and yet consistently no matter what any song I pick is a fucking banger

[erikasandersonactor]

Horrorcon UK

Ok, so a little rather late for an Audio Drama Sunday post, but I wanted to share what an epic weekend we had at Horrorcon UK in Sheffield 11-12th May.

Myself, Daivd Ault and James Cleveland (all from The NoSleep Podcast) were there promoting "Horror in Audio Fiction", trying to get more people to discover audio drama and fiction through podcasts, and not assuming all podcasts were two blokes talking about stuff into a mic.

Having worked on over a 100 shows between us, (with a lot of horror), it became a game of "Tell us what kind of horror you like, and we'll recommend a show for you to listen to".

From the big anthology shows like NoSleep, and the very British and queer Shadows at the the Door, we kept finding more shows to talk about and add to an ever-growing flow chart.

Shows we were flag waving for included:

The NoSleep Podcast Shadows at the Door @re-dracula @thekilda @woebegonepod Dark Dice Red Odyssey Audible Visions Drama Creepy Campfire Radio Theatre The Wicked Library Victoria's Lift The Dead @lessismorguepod The Hidden Frequencies

And it wasn't just horror! We gave shoutouts to @camlannpod and the sci-fi series Cyclone as well!

In all, a wonderful weekend introducing people to the incredible world of audio drama and fiction.

[operachristine]

Anyone have the audio from Wicked where Kerry Ellis has a mic malfunction while backstage and it gets heard throughout the theatre?

[the-best-of-the-myrmidona]

listen, I get that people can get upset over the Shadowhunters being given British accents by audiobooks and movie. However, I raise the question

What do they sound like?

Lightwoods have been described as having "the odd inflection of Idris". Multiple books ha e mentioned the Idris accent in some way.

What does that accent sound like, then?

[mintygreencake]

Me @ David Shaw and Asher Talbot once the wedding is over and we at the honeymoon

[thebookdragonshoard]

The Wicked King by Holly Black: Review (SPOILERS)

Dearest gentle readers (sorry, I've been watching too much Bridgerton).

Anyways, hello bitches, bros, and nonbinary hoes!! (+10 points if you can name that reference). I will most likely be jumping around from scene to scene instead of reviewing them chronologically because like my thought process, I can't do anything in an orderly or linear fashion.

The Wicked King by Holly Black is a 30 chapter, 448 page (or 10hr 21min audio book) book and is the second installment in the The Folk of the Air trilogy. It is primarily a political fantasy with a subplot of romance centering around our main character, Jude Duarte. Given that this is the second book in the series and that you are reading this, I will assume you already know the characters.

First of all, I'd like to highlight the fact that this is a political fantasy with a SUBplot of romance. I love the fact that, although the growing relationship between Cardan and Jude is relevant to the story, it is not the main focus. I feel like lately, many books are either hinged on romance or completely cut it out, so it always feels as if it's all or nothing. And I appreciate that Holly Black, while still producing a well-written and convincing romance, gave us a complex and captivating political scene with the world-building to match.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was how we got to see more into the inner workings of the High Court and life inside the palace. It was something I often found myself curious about while reading the first book (The Cruel Prince). Plus, we also got to see more faerie revels, which are always fun scenes to read, in my opinion.

Speaking of faerie revels, the revel on the night of the Hunter's Moon. First of all, I deeply despise Locke, and I just had to say that somewhere. Anyways, I like to believe that Jude being crowned Queen of Mirth was not only coincidental in her being the only mortal girl there, but also foreshadowing for the end of the book, when Jude rises to High Queen of Elfhame. Especially how, with her 'coronation' as Queen of Mirth, she was mocked and ridiculed the entire time (as per the game). When Jude is named High Queen and declares as such at the end of the book, the folk around her have much of the same reaction and start laughing at her almost instantaneously, Just like crowing a mortal as Queen of Mirth is meant to be a joke, Jude being crowned as the High Queen is received as a joke by the folk, however true it may be. Furthermore, a part of me has to admire the way Jude handled herself as Queen of Mirth and remained composed despite all the insults and ridiculed, even going so far as to turn the situation in her favor towards the end of the scene. For instance, how she strips herself naked before allowing the folk to dress her in the tattered gown given to the Queen of Mirth. It's such a powerful move for her and it basically screams to the folk that despite, no, in the face their cruel intentions, she can still hold her head high and that none of them could strip her of her dignity, despite how hard they may try. She silently says that whatever they may do to embarass her pales in comparison of what she can do to embarass herself and that, even though she is mortal, she is just as faerie as the rest of them, if not more so. Which I have personally thought since her first scheme to get Cardan on the throne. I think this quote sums it up very well. "After all, if the insult to me is pointing out that I am mortal, than this is my riposte: I live here, too, and I know the rules. Perhaps I even know them better than you since you were born into them, but I had to learn. Perhaps I know them better than you because you have greater leeway to break them."

However, even though Jude was the main focus of the scene, I have to bring up Cardan's actions. Because oh my gods, Cardan. First of all, how he makes sure that Taryn isn't there that night makes me believe that he did it not only because Jude asked him to help protect her from Locke, but that he also did it for Jude's sake. Because what would have been the one worse thing for Jude than her being named Queen of Mirth? If it were Taryn instead. Because I fully believe Locke would do it with zero hesitation, even though Taryn was supposed to be his lover. Additionally, Cardan tried to warn Jude to leave the revel towards the beginning of the scene, effectively trying to protect her from Locke's torment. And then what Cardan said when Locke asked about his feelings for Jude. " I have too often been troubled by dreams of Jude... her face features prominently in my most frequent nightmares... But I believe it is only that her beauty is unique... Excruciating. Alarming. Distressing." We all know that Cardan, being faerie, cannot lie and therefore has to be telling some form of the truth in this scene. And at first read, it's all too easy to assume he is being intentionally cruel. I certainly thought so at first. But then I remembered how Cardan previously admitted his attraction to Jude, more specifically how much it terrified him. Taking this into account, we realize that Cardan is actually complimenting Jude here. It is not that her beauty is excruciating, alarming, and distressing. Or that her face haunts his nightmares. But, rather, that her looks are excruciating, alarming, and distressing, and that her face haunts his nightmares because Cardan finds her beautiful, which he feels like he shouldn't because Jude is a mortal. Also, I like how, at the end of their shared dance, Cardan tells Jude she is allowed to stay or leave as she likes, effectively leaving the choice up to her. Giving her the option to leave insinuates that he is aware of how unsettled she must be after being named Queen of Mirth and that she may want to be alone to deal with her feelings about it, but also giving her the choice to stay essentially says that he isn't going to assume that she is still some weak, mortal girl that cant handle the pressure. Basically, he gives her the option to leave for her own sake if she must, no judgement included, or to stay and tough it out if she feels capable of it, also no judgement included.

Let's fast forward to the end of Taryn and Locke's wedding, aka the first betrayal scene. I was guessing the entire novel who the traitor would be, but I was not at all suspecting The Ghost. I suppose after the beginning sparring scene between Jude and The Ghost, I should have expected it but, you know what they say. Ignorance is bliss. So, The Ghost and Vulciber manage to lure Jude away to The Tower of Forgetting via an attack against it from the Undersea. And once there, it is revealed that The Ghost was the traitor and Jude gets the faerie equivalent of chloroformed. Talk about losing father figures, am I right? That makes what, 3 lost father figures for Jude?? Depenfing on your definition of lost if Madoc counts or not. Anyways, Jude then wakes up underwater as a prisoner of the Undersea. I, again, really enjoy how well this whole scenario highlights Jude's uncanny ability to lie and play a role. Consider, she manages to trick Queen Orlagh and Baelkin into believing she was glamored into adoring them. Even though Queen Orlagh is a major power in faerieland and is older than High King Eldred himself. And even though Baelkin's Hollow Hall was full of glamored mortals, meaning that he definitely should have been able to tell Jude wasn't actually glamored. You'd think at least one of them would have been able to tell. Or that even Nicasia should have been able to tell, given that out of the three she had been around Jude the most. It just goes to show again that even though Jude is mortal, she is just as faerie as the rest of the folk. And at the mention of Baelkin and this whole ordeal, am I the only one who audibly gagged when Jude had to kiss Baelkin? I can't be the only one. Her murdering him? Fully justified, and not even for him slaughtering his entire family save for Cardan and Oak. Good for Jude.

Finally, let's skip to the end of the book (aka the five stages of literary grief) because this review is already much longer than I anticipated. First off, Cardan rgiving up the Court of Termites just to arrange Jude's release??? No one can say he is NOT a romantic. And when Cardan has been poisoned by wraithberry at the masquerade ball, completely and utterly inebriated, and yet he still manages to come to Jude's defense when she is being threatened by Baelkin? Chef's kiss. It truly shows that Cardan has come such a long way from despising her, and his attraction towards her, in the first book to openly doing things that can be interpreted as fondness for her, even in front of the entire court and even when poisoned. And from there, Jude manages to trick the antidote away from Baelkin and kills him in a duel, before returning to Cardan. This leads us to the second betrayal of the book: Taryn.

Taryn tricks Cardan into believing she is Jude while he is still sobering up from the wraithberry and asks requested half the army plus Madoc to be released from their oaths to the crown. To which Cardan agrees without question, due to how much trust he now has in Jude. I didn't see The Ghost's betrayal coming, but I had my suspcicions about Taryn from the get go. She was being overly nice to Jude the entire book, despite her betrayal with Locke in the first book. I feel like this betrayal hurt worse for Jude than that of The Ghost's, because Jude had decided to give Taryn a second chance, despite her broken heart from the first book. And then Taryn turned right back around and stabbed a second knife into Jude's back, right next to the one from the first book.

After that whole debacle, Cardan summons Jude back to his room later in the night. And this is when he asks Jude to give him control of himself back, in exchange for her hand in marriage, making her the High Queen of Elfhame. Obviously, Jude accepts because she stills feels like that helpless mortal on the inside, and what better solution is there for than feeling than acquiring more power and respect. The next day, Queen Orlagh demands an audience with the High King and reveals she is furious about the murder of Baelkin, her ambassador. She threatens war and almost goes through with it. Before she can, Cardan quite literally boils the sea and raises an entirely new island of Elfhame. Which, if you recall, the original 3 islands were raised up by Queen Mab herself. I also interpret this as foreshadowing, however for the next book and the whole Cardan prophecy, specifically the "...a great ruler will rise" bit. Because Queen Mab is regarded in faerie as the greatest ruler there was, having the Blood Crown forged for her descendants. I find it's only fitting that Cardan raises up an island of Elfhame, as Mab did, in his, arguably, first moment acting as a true High King of Elfhame. Orlagh then goes on to back down, still demanding justice for Baelkin. And Cardan gives it to her, by exiling Jude back to the mortal realm until she is pardoned by the Crown. (a loop-hole she could have exploited right then and there since she was the High Queen and therefore part of the Crown). Which enraged me to no end at the time, given that they had just gotten married (a fact that thrilled me.) Again I say: they are the definition of enemies to lovers.

That's all I have for y'all, folks. If this review erred too far on the side of essay, then too bad, so sad. I enjoy writing essays (clearly.)

[thedawningofthehour]

My mom is losing her shit over Defying Gravity like yes mom this is why every gay in the 2000s loved this musical.

[dawnofiight]

Rare pair of the day :

Sam X Milo

Guys ..grumpy X fiesty at first

You don't understand the cuteness