| Elisabeth: Moon Troupe demachi report |
[Jun. 20th, 2009|11:14 pm] |
The actual show report will take a few days, or until I get back home (because it only gets better from here), but we did end up staying for our first demachi.
(For the non-Takarazuka: demachi is official stagedooring. When the stars come out, they take letters from their fanclub members, but they generally don't talk to other people, and you're not allowed to bother them. Not so much with the Kevin Tarte style of "who wants to glomp Krolock? :D)
( Demachi report )
( And this would be what never happens at demachi ) |
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| FIC: The end of Summer (Original/Tanz, PG) |
[May. 7th, 2009|05:00 pm] |
Written for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) lgbtfest:
Title: The End of Summer
Author: Beth Winter, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bwinter
Fandom: Loosely based on Tanz der Vampire (musical based on the movie Fearless Vampire Killers)
Pairing/characters: Graf von Krolock, Original Character
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Roman Polanski and Michael Kunze have my congratulations. This particular version is based on the original Vienna production.
Prompt: 35. Any fandom, any character(s), In a world that contains vampires one of them is utterly depressed. No matter who he/she loves, be it man or woman, the second her/his bloodlust takes over he/she destroys what he/she loved about them in the first place. How would meeting someone who is immortal (and therefore immune to the vampire's bite) in a completely different way change his/her perspective on (un)life?
Summary: The nature of curses may not be what we believe.
Warnings: Death, angst, religious themes (Catholicism).
Author's Notes: All you need to know about this canon is that it's 1617 in Transylvania, and Graf Stephan von Krolock, scientist and magician, has recently been turned into a vampire.
( The vampire and the stranger )
( And bonus epilogue ) |
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| A good weekend for musicals |
[Feb. 23rd, 2009|09:49 am] |
After the last few weeks, I really welcomed an off weekend. Due to several packages and events, it was better than I expected :)
First, the Elisabeth programme from the Toho production is absolutely gorgeous. While Maki remains my firm favourite, both the new Elisabeths look more than up to the task. Alas, my DVD of the first act with Komu and Yamaguchi is just half a full stage shot (no zoom and lots of obscuring heads), but the one of Kaname and Takeda is a good full-stage shot and features both acts - she handles herself very well, though her voice will always be Kenshin to me.
(And I have the Mizu-Tonami chirashi for Zorro! Three of them :D)
I also watched Rose of Versailles: Oscar (the 2006 Snow Troupe version, Mizu!Andre digest), which I think may warrant its own post, just because of how strong Komu's Oscar is, and how well they get through the madness that is the poisoning scene. With a crystal pegasus and assorted pink and glitter, this was a good antidote to the movie I watched just before that - The Nightmare Before Christmas. Which got bonus points for a Jack Skellington being voiced by a guy who did both Phantom of the Opera and Abronsius. (Yes, I watched the English version first. Then just the songs for the Japanese dub, because I adore Masachika Ichimura.)
And then, of course, this morning. Oscars. Hugh Jackman. If you haven't seen the clips of his opening number, or the medley with Beyoncé (who would make a stunning Velma Kelly), please do. They're all over Youtube, anyway :) |
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| I have not fallen off the face of the planet |
[Jan. 24th, 2009|08:13 pm] |
I've just noticed I haven't posted in two weeks. As usual, this means work's eating me alive. And amusingly enough, of my New Year's Resolutions I'm doing the best with exercise, which means less weight already, but also 45 to 60 minutes less in the day. Studying isn't going badly, but writing, thus far, is mostly of the Morning Pages kind, letting out steam and stress.
And I'm watching the news about the newest Elisabeth production with... bemusement. Not only will Sisi be taller than Death (which has happened before), but it looks like it'll be equivalent of Sandor Nagy playing Sisi to Szilveszter Szabo's Death. It'll be - interesting.
But hey, she's cute. And I need to look for this concert while I'm over there: 【ニコニコ動画】I have a dreamコンサート「オスカーワイルド」０１ |
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| Yuletide reveal |
[Jan. 2nd, 2009|12:25 am] |
Author names are now up, which means I can confess to posting the following:
Elisabeth: The Play of the Hand
Three months before Mayerling, Rudolf has to deal with Death, Elisabeth, and a visit from an Emperor younger than him. This is my longest Yuletide story, and the most hermetic one, in that it takes as given that the reader knows that in 1888, Wilhelm von Hohenzollern became Emperor of Germany, and that Rudolf had a love-hate relationship with him, culminating in political quarrels and estrangement during that visit, in October 1888. It was my first attempt at pulling out these two, and I fear I may return to them at some point in the future :)
Elisabeth: Empress of the Mind
After seeing to Elisabeth's fainting spell, Doktor Seeburger returns to the Archduchess Sophie. Inspired by the Yukigumi 2007 production, and by the Hungarian production's scene with Death and Sophie. (And again a historical fact: Sophie witnessed the decline and death of her beloved cousin, Napoleon's son. She was close enough to him that there were rumours that her second son was his. From that moment on, she was familiar with Death.)
Romeo et Juliette: The Wedding Night (R, Mercutio/Tybalt)
Alternate Universe: It is the night of Romeo and Juliette's wedding.
Arthurian legend: Natural Son
Mordred's arrival in Camelot. He's always been my favourite, along with Lancelot, of the Arthurian legends, and in this piece I touch on the reasons why. I think this, together with the fandom's popularity (and the fact so many great fics were written in it this year!) was why this story got the most comments :)
Out of all of these, I think I'm proudest of Empress of the Mind. Mostly because it flowed, and Death still does not want to shut up. |
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| Yuletide and daschunds |
[Dec. 27th, 2008|07:03 pm] |
I'm getting back home tomorrow, and I'll do a full recs post then - just the Vorkosigan fandom has me in so much squee. For now, just the ones I got, in their order from my Yuletide mail. Each of these is a marvel, especially since my original Santa defaulted - all of these are Yuletide Treats!
Shadows and Blood - Tanz der Vampire. I know who wrote this one, but that doesn't stop me from adoring it to itty bitty pieces :D Von Krolock and Herbert, as played by Jan Ammann and Jakub W., and being so them that I almost fell of my chair in giggles.
Taking the Waters - Lord John Grey, a story in which Stephan and John are delightfully them, and a mood that could be written by Diana Gabaldon herself.
Eschewing Protocol - another Lord John story, and this one had me in stitches at how well it gets into John's head. It's the kind of slashy gem I adore so much ♥
Der Untergang - Elisabeth and Death, and the author's grasp on Death is amazing. It's a missing scene from the musical, and makes me want to send this to Michael Kunze for inclusion in the next staging of the show.
And then there is Close as Brothers, which is Lord John again, and lovely and touching, and written by someone who's not even a Yuletider O.o I've no idea who it is, and the very sentiment was jaw-dropping, never mind the fact it's so well-written!
Here's hoping everyone had a happy and joyful winter festival of whatever flavour they prefer! |
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| Habsburgs are amusing |
[Oct. 13th, 2008|05:06 pm] |
Back from Vienna, alive. I had an immensely enjoyable weekend, including seeing Rebecca again (more on which, hopefully, later) and fyrie killing my feet with all the walking we did ;)
One of the highlights of the trip was the temporary exhibition on Crown Prince Rudolf that's currently on at the Hofmobiliendepot. He was a deeply disturbed individual. One quote: "I have a deep respect for death. I often seek out dying people, to witness their last breath. Each of them dies differently. I watch dying animals as well..."
But what slayed me was a pair of photos of Rudolf clinging - there is no other word - on the arm of Wilhelm II of Prussia. Who, before the unfortunate moustache, apparently was a dead ringer for Jesper Tyden. And of all the Rudolf photos in the exhibit, the one with his arm through Wilhelm's was the only one in which he looked comfortable. On top of Wilhelm's documented predilections, I really do not need this plotbunny. |
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| Elisabeth in Budapest, with pictures! |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|05:21 pm] |
Where to start? I saw four excellent shows, two each of Tanz der Vampire (Vámpirok Báljá) and Elisabeth. I saw them with roughly the same casts. In the case of Tanz, it was the first cast, which I've seen many times and have reviewed extensively. In the case of Elisabeth, while comments from the last time still apply, there was one notable exception. One muscular, blond, Hungarian exception with a rockstar voice and a charisma bigger than the stage.
After two years of fangirling the man, I have finally seen Máté Kamarás in person. And now I really understand the Japanese fangirls who travelled all the way to Budapest to see him. The man is that good.
( Elisabeth, or the Death who stole the show )
And on top of all that, I've finally figured out how to get photos of actors in costume. Curtain calls!
( Death (times 4), Elisabeth, Lucheni, plus Krolock and Herbert for good measure ) |
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| Budapest update |
[Jun. 28th, 2008|11:21 pm] |
My brain is mush. This has a lot to do with the fact I saw the git in my icon today. And then he stole the show.
Full review once I'm home. For now, let it suffice that I am grinning so much, my cheeks hurt. |
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| Elisabeth in Berlin |
[May. 5th, 2008|12:20 pm] |
I saw two shows in Berlin, May 1 and May 2. The cast was almost the same - the only exception was Sophie, with the understudy the first time and Christa Wettstein (first cast) on Friday. The shows, however, were dramatically different, mostly because on Thursday, Bruno Grassini (Lucheni) was phoning in his role, while by Friday he had recovered.
( Detailed review )
End verdict: I'm glad I've gone, for reasons of Uwe (and to a lesser extent, Annemieke and Oliver), but this production is craft rather than art. And I'm very happy I have tickets booked to Elisabeth in Budapest next month, with the full second cast (Máté, Bernádett and Nikolett, Ádám Bálint and Tamás Szaraz) confirmed for both shows I'm attending. |
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| Elisabeth in Berlin |
[Feb. 17th, 2008|10:22 am] |
So, cast for Elisabeth in Berlin is all but set. It's less dreadful than what I was fearing, but again they went for people who know the musical by heart.
Death: Uwe (who's looking and sounding very good on the promo clip) will be later replaced by Felix Martin, with Oliver Arno as understudy to both. Tried and true, but I like them both enough.
Elisabeth: Pia in the beginning, later to be replaced by Annemieke van Dam. I have to admit I'm in two minds about Annemieke - I've seen her in clips of 3 Musketiere, and while she's got great acting skills and a sweet voice, voice control could use work, and I'm not sure she's up to being first cast for such a demanding role.
Franz-Joseph: Markus Pol - he was FJ in last year's Japanese tour. Decent, though not one of my favourites. Cover's Peter Stassen, Louis and Richelieu in Stuttgart.
Rudolf: Oliver Arno - looks like a high point of the cast, judging by previous performances. I wouldn't mind seeing him as Death, either! Cover Rudolf is Martin Markert, cover on the Japan tour - looks decent, can't find any clips.
Still no news of Sophie or Max. Guess I should get around to reserving tickets... |
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| Elisabeth-related incoherence |
[Jan. 5th, 2008|07:38 pm] |
I think fyrie called dibs on the post title of "Warning: Low-Flying Lucheni", so this one is going to be much less coherent ;)
I didn't get to see Máté Kamarás, because the git went and got a cold. Hopefully he'll be on tomorrow, so if the stagedoor people are as friendly as they were today, we can get them to haul him in by the ear. But still, not all was lost.
I am more convinced than ever that Máté's bounciness is due to a special drug, because it looked like Szilveszter Szabó drank it by mistake. I mean, I've seen this guy on video at least three times, and he's always been nice, but very muted and aloof. This time... not so much. Crackling energy, emotional spill-over and an actual dynamic with Rudolf. Either he was on crack or someone took him over telepathically ;)
And then there was the Amazing Bouncing Lucheni. Honestly, the guy should have a circus act. And it didn't hurt that he's handsome, has a great voice and a charisma that means you look at him exclusively. (Unless Death is onstage, in which case their interaction is - let's just say I have bunnies with very sharp teeth.) But hey, don't take my word for it:
( Youtube: Tamás Száraz in Milch )
Bernadett Vago was a lovely Elisabeth (and her voice is gorgeous!), Ádám Balint was the best-acting Franz-Joseph I have ever seen, and Dávid Szabó presented a Rudolf with believable power, which is a first.
More impressions later, I think. Once I have a comparison ;) Not like I'm seeing the show tomorrow again... oops. |
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| Recommended reading |
[Dec. 30th, 2007|02:17 pm] |
At the seaside, I was purposefully out of my usual reading material, and thus raiding the grandparents' collection of Important Works of Literature. Isaac Singer's The Estate is a very nice insight into Belle Epoque Jews if only one can look past the characters, which are the whiniest bunch I've seen since Neon Genesis Evangelion. The Godfather would be a perfect read if at least three characters in my head weren't ogling Michael Corleone with illicit purposes. Mann's Buddenbrooks faltered a bit in the middle, but the teenage slash at the end redeemed them (okay, the other bits were interesting, too). Doctor Zhivago caused me to facepalm over my Russian ancestry.
All in all, it was a relief to come back to an open yuletide archive.
This year I've been damnably lucky with my gifts - I received two full-length stories and a vignette. No idea yet who they're from, but all are gorgeous:
Ourobos - Tanz der Vampire behind the scenes; a different interpretation than my own, but I can imagine Thomas Borchert and Jakub Wocial in these roles far too easily.
Conversations with the Dead - Elisabeth, the deaths of Sophie, Rudolf and Franz-Joseph: the amount of historical detail is delightful.
And Black And Black And Blacker Still - Elisabeth, a heartbreaking Rudolf moment that reaches to the core of his character.
And from other stories that I've skimmed, four so far had me glued to the screen and exclaiming with delight:
The Invisible City - a sequel to Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere that should damn well be official. It's like turning a page and finding a lost epilogue to the story. This could be Neil writing.
By No Miracle or Majestic Means - for all that I avoid Vorkosigan fanfiction like the plague, this story of a young Miles's caper is perfectly in tune. It suffers a little from rush - I know well the lack of time to balance the plot at the end - but the language is Ivan's, the characters are vividly themselves.
The Sixth Heaven - the Beauty and the Beast TV series has always remained with me, and this AU with Catherine and Vincent meeting as children captures the magic perfectly.
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down - You've probably seen this Who Framed Roger Rabbit story recced by others. All I'm saying is, hold on to your hats. |
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| Plans of the musical variety |
[Nov. 23rd, 2007|09:02 am] |
Ohdear. They'll be playing Elisabeth in Berlin from April onwards, so I kind of think I'll be there with bells on sometime in May :> Depending on the cast, I guess - my favourite would be Jan Ammann for Death and Jakub Wocial for Rudolf and second Death, but generally, I like most of the possibles. Except Haldor Laegreid.
So that'll be thrice I'll be seeing Elisabeth next year - got two sets of tickets for Budapest already. (And possible plans for... more far-off regions in the autumn, but those are nowhere near being finalised.) And Tanz der Vampire at least once, Budapest again.
Phantom of the Opera in Warsaw, I'm sorry to say, fizzled out completely. My firm favourites were cut down - one for being unable to attend an audition, fair enough, but the other for "lack of acting ability". Which he does have, on top of an operatic baritone that leaves everyone in the dust.
On the other hand, that does leave him free for Beauty and the Beast in Gdynia (also in the spring), which has the potential for being gorgeous if they finally get their act together - they're a decent theatre, but no magic to it so far. I hope it'll end up being something interesting.
And on top of it all I should probably finally drag my carcass to London for Phantom, Les Mis and anything else that happens to be on. And I still haven't seen some of my must-see people live - currently Stanley Burleson tops that list, followed closely by Pia Douwes and Ethan Freeman.
Say what you want about this hobby, you're never out of places to travel to. |
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| Dear Yuletide Santa |
[Oct. 19th, 2007|06:48 am] |
*looks at Yuletide assignment and kind of falls over* At least I didn't get fyrie. And I do have a challenge like I wanted.
EDIT: Huh. Looks like everyone will get a rematch, which is a pity - I liked that request :/
( Dear Yuletide Santa, as to my own requests.... )
In conclusion: Dear Yuletide Santa. I wish you luck. You may need it ;) |
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| On the musicals front |
[Jul. 26th, 2007|02:08 pm] |
The guy in my icon is the newest - first cast - Abronsius in Berlin. At age 21, without being a German or Austrian, and that's for a role that demands tongue-twisters at breakneck speed O.o
Also, I've spent quite a bit of time happily staring at photos from the new Budapest production of Elisabeth. I am quite frightened by the lengths some people are willing to go to to make this guy look like this guy.
Combined, I would say it means I can look forward to repeat trips to both Berlin and Budapest. Curses :P |
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| Elisabeth: Maki Ichiro, as found on random Youtube trolling |
[May. 11th, 2007|07:44 am] |
*blinks* I was thinking of ripping a certain clip from a DVD I just got, and look, it's already on Youtube. Maki Ichiro playing Death - as a girl. She's even singing in a more female voice, which is a sight.
( DIVA 2001, Death as a girl and Rudolf as a boy )
This is something else I need to save, Maki's last TCA performance, also an Elisabeth song...
( It's hard to make pale green sequins look good )
And since I'm on a Maki kick, look: Uwe can sing well providing he has the right Elisabeth:
( Bilingual Wenn Ich Tanzen Will, DIVA 2004 )
And now, off to work, so downloading those will have to wait *eyedart* |
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| [FIC] Wanting (NC-17, slash, vampires and Elisabeth) |
[Oct. 6th, 2006|06:06 pm] |
This story is entirely valancystar’s fault. She put up a clip of Jesper Tydén in leather as Rudolf Habsburg in Elisabeth, and my von Krolock decided he wanted to slide his hands around those hips. Then fyrie encouraged him. The rest is – nearly 3000 words of little but kinky crossover smut. All relevant information is given in the story though, except for the historical facts of Rudolf Habsburg and Mary Vetsera in Mayerling lodge.
Fandom: Elisabeth/Tanz der Vampire/Historical
Rating: NC-17 with bells on
Warnings: Dubious consent, bloodplay, mild SM
Pairings: Von Krolock/Rudolf, Death/Rudolf
( Wanting ) |
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| Musical dorks |
[Oct. 6th, 2006|04:10 pm] |
It has been pointed out to me that a lot of my favourite musical people are dorks. Therefore I thought I'd assemble some video proof of the fact ;) Under the cut: musicals might rot the brain.
( Lukasz, Jakub, Mate, Maki, Steve )
And as a bonus, because a clip of the Yukigumi Elisabeth only appeared on Youtube recently, this would be my original androgynous Death, AKA Azrael Thanatos, as played by Maki Ichiro:
( Thanatos in all hir glory ) |
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| [FIC] Bloodmarks 1: Manus (Original/Elisabeth, PG-13) |
[Sep. 21st, 2006|08:20 am] |
Am running like a chicken with my head cut off, so I guess I might as well post this for public consumption. This is the first in a series that I've been writing for the past month - I have 4 chapters out of 9 already finished. It's also origific or as close as makes no difference, since one character is historical and one is inspired by Maki Ichiro's performance as Death in Elisabeth (see icon).
So here's Vlad Draculea, age almost-nine, and the world that surrounds and shapes him into legend.
With thanks to fyrie as usual and alice_montrose for beta.
BLOODMARKS 1: MANUS
Anno Domini 1440
( Bored minds are dangerous things ) |
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| Youtube goodness |
[Aug. 21st, 2006|09:58 am] |
Almost caught up on backlog - I still have a mile-long list of fics and longer posts. Alas, my computer is still being a ditz; I think it's the cooling fan, but it means that I can't do anything too processor-intensive. Writing and icons may have to wait a bit :/
In the meantime, here are two things that I've had in hardcopy for a while, but wanted to share on LJ and couldn't find online:
Clips from Yukigumi's 1996 Elisabeth
Maki Ichiro (Death, white-haired dudette) is LOVE. And as soon as I can edit them, I'll have way too many icons of her. Alas, this montage focuses on Rudolf, but there are glimpses.
Jakub Wocial singing Gethsemane
Stupid boy made me cry the first time I heard him sing that. Kind souls have put many clips from his recent recital online, and any Phantom fans are recommended to watch the Phantom ones, but Gethsemane... gah, that voice. That voice. Guy's freaking 20, too. I was technically aware there are people with voices like that, but I didn't expect to meet one face-to-face. You'd never tell it by his out-of-character speaking voice, either. |
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| Creative pursuits in all the wrong venues |
[Aug. 5th, 2006|10:02 am] |
I'm blocked. Not in the frustration sense, but rather a semi-coma that has infected almost all my muses. The only ones hanging around are a human variant of Vlad Draculea and a Takarazuka Death from Elisabeth. Nothing interesting.
On the other hand, when fyrie was here, she brought a set of pastels and drew portraits while I watched. It didn't look that difficult, so I acquired a set for myself. It's a bit time-consuming, but seeing as I hadn't drawn anything for close to five years and was never good at it - my sense of proportions is all wrong - I think my second attempt at a portrait didn't come out too badly.
( Look! I drew a bishie! )
So, yeah. Possibly leaving tomorrow, but I have all my requests lined up and will write them there. I'll also try to get to a net cafe more often. It's much colder now, so the trek should be easier :) |
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| Friday Fic Recs |
[Jul. 28th, 2006|02:27 pm] |
First of all, fyrie's Dance of Death: Obligatto, PWP with breathplay, utterly enjoyable even if you don't know the characters :> And do read to compare with my upcoming PWP with breathplay, which was written because fyrie and Herbert are evil to the extreme.
It's been a while since I recced anything by guede_mazaka, because she's been writing Supernatural lately and I've the vaguest idea about it. But now she's back in POTC fandom with a vengeance, and she's the only person who can make me believe in Sparrington and want more, too. In Judas Kiss she does it beautifully. And Blooded is Will/Norrington as Norrington searches for an anchor and Will's unable to change, stark and violent and confused just like the inside of Norrington's head.
Finally, shezan wrote me a neat little vignette on Vader and imperial bureaucracy, with Piett, my favourite Imperial :D |
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| Heat, Vox and evil people |
[Jul. 24th, 2006|05:45 pm] |
The heat is disturbing my laptop's operation again. After some normal operation, the high-speed fan kicks in and the processor seems to enter some kind of overheat-protection mode that slows everything down something awful. As a result, I'm unable to watch videos or do graphics, which is a pain.
Especially since fyrie wandered off to Sweden and left me alone. (If wolfmoonie happens to read this, all the best on your wedding day :)) Which is a good point as any for me to pimp her recent work so that you people can leave feedback for her once she returns. I think that for once I'm caught up with pimping her Carpe Noctem series, because we got sidetracked there. She wrote an angsty prequel though: Und Alle Engel Müssen Fall'n. Then she temporarily ditched that continuity to write a lovely Herbert-turning fic and Herbert in a modern Goth club (a rather masterful work of bunnying on my part). And then we both got the Elisabeth bug, which on her part turned into a crossover series called Dance of Death (with vampires in it, Prelude, Nocturne and Elegy) - the latter has high slash content of the very attractive kind ;) And an Elisabeth genfic about Sophie's death: On Silent Wings.
And while I'm fyrie-less and bored, I also have more Vox invites than I can shake a stick at. I already gave out 6, have 2 in my account at this point, and each time I get rid of them, a few hours later I have more. So if anyone should want a Vox account like mine, drop me a line and I'll send you an invite as soon as I have it. |
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| [FIC] Closer to the Veil (Elisabeth the musical, R, slash and het) |
[Jul. 23rd, 2006|07:37 pm] |
This was written as a Yuletide fic, or rather a leftover New Year Request, for caithion. I've been looking at Yuletide participation for a while now, and then I saw a request for the very musical that recently ate my brain :)
With thanks to fyrie for encouragement and suggestions. (And yes, this means it's her fault as usual. To be honest, I'm to blame with her obsession for Elisabeth as well as Tanz der Vampire, which has her producing fic for both, separately as well as combined.)
All you need to know is that Empress Elisabeth of Austria (also known as Sisi) and her son the Crown-Prince Rudolf are both prone to seeing visions of Death as a blond man bent on winning their love, or at least their lives. This may as well be historical fic.
Constructive criticism welcome, especially regarding historical details I may have got wrong.
Fandom: Elisabeth the musical / historical
Pairings: Death/Rudolf, Death/Elisabeth
CLOSER TO THE VEIL
( Death plays his dark games whenever Rudolf or Elisabeth come near him ) |
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happy
silly
exanimate
rushed
confused
tired
hot
